


Caudal Emeralds and Becoming Venom

by Ribbonshalos



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: AU, Blood, Broken Bones, Cecaelia Sombra, Character Death, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Human/Monster Romance, Hurt/Comfort, Implied BunnyRibbit - Freeform, Implied Junkmetra, Implied McSombra, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Injury, McCree and Angela are family, Mild Gore, Monster Fights heck yeah, Monsters, Mystical Mountain mumbo jumbo, Naga Genji, Naga Hanzo, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Scorpion Symmetra, Spider Widowmaker, Violence, Vomiting, fangs, its a slow start but we'll get there eventually, suffocation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-12-11
Packaged: 2019-02-03 10:55:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 66,429
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12746919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ribbonshalos/pseuds/Ribbonshalos
Summary: Her faith tells her bones she’ll be protected because her cause is just. It is foolish, but there are stories of people disappearing into the mountain to join the monsters, becoming half man and half creature themselves because they were worthy.Or because they deserved the punishment.In her want of only finding plants and herbs that could help in illness, she prays that monsters will stray away to let her work in peace. Perhaps the meadows will bless her on this day.





	1. The Mountain

**Author's Note:**

> I have a thing for half human half monster thingys and Gency has been burning a hole in my heart so here ya go

**_SPRING_ **

 

Angela considers herself a logical woman, even in difficult situations.

Many warnings and pleads have touched upon her ears to not venture to the top of the mountain meadows, but there is promise onto of its sharp slopes. Medicines and remedies hide somewhere in the mystic shadow of the looming mountain.

People are dying from simple conditions in harsh environments. Cures and healing agents can be found in roots and flowers. She will gather those special ingredients for those who need it.

It takes a full day to scale its rough side. Her feet travel the worn path branching off to farms and lone houses until only grass and the thin air occupy her. No one travels as far she, for the warnings of the creatures dwelling in the region are deadly and fearsome. Yet, the place she ventures to could hold so many answers to sickness.

There are strange and almost mystical herbs and vegetation dotting the slopping meadows all around the mountain’s base. Some say that drinking the mountain’s water will make you stronger, and if you consume the right kind of berry every morning you’ll never catch the plague. Plants that heal wounds fast and break fevers are hidden in its folds of earth.

These remedies only grow here, among the warnings of monsters lurking deep in its shadow. Every account is different, from fiery dragons to deadly woman with the lower body of a spider or men with horse bodies. They all hunt humans, hungry and powerful.

A brown hood hides her hair as the rising sun moves with her. A simple pack and a staff helps her across the first grassy plain waving across the ground. Angela reaches the mountain meadows, and finds her gaze sweeping back down the steep path she climbed.

Towns and cities are hidden in the shadow of the mountain, and the closest one is two days walk from its path. True isolation is laced between soft blades of grass, and she prays that it will stay that way.

The cloak she wears hides her person and drapes down into slit sides as to let her legs maneuver easier. Black wool leggings covers her skin and keeps the chilly spring morning at bay. Holding the white oak staff carefully at her side, she turns back to the tree line pushing up closer to the rockier mountain side and follows a crystal blue stream. It tastes clean, and she decides to keep beside it.

Many men have ventured up here in desperation and in bravery. Nearly none return save for the one lucky soul with wounds and tales of a terrifying half man half beast like creature attacking him.

The sun warms her nose at its briefest touch.  Lowering the hood to let it kiss her face, Angela breathes quietly, listening for any sound of movement, or inhuman noises.

Her faith tells her bones she’ll be protected because her cause is just. It is foolish, but there are stories of people disappearing into the mountain to join the monsters, becoming half man and half creature themselves because they were worthy.

Or because they deserved the punishment.

In her want of only finding plants and herbs that could help in illness, she prays that monsters will stray away to let her work in peace. Perhaps the meadows will bless her on this day.

The stream leads her to a half circle of pale aspen trees but she stops at bright red flowers sprouting at their base. Kneeling in the offered space, free of tall wild grass that brushes against her clothes, her fingers touch the bunched red petals. Small and frayed, she digs into the dirt before tugging its root free. With the whole flower resting in her hand, she retrieves a small leather pouch and presses the flower into it. Storing it away, she takes her book and opens to a pale, blank page. Charcoal sticks stain her fingers as she retrieves from her pack. She sketches the flowers head in a large view before adding the entire body alongside it. It smells sweet and foreign, and holds potential that her hands can only hope to find.

The first time she saw a flower, it was during a terrible time. A white, bulbous arrangement of tiny flowers placed between two graves. Brave people will venture to the very edges of the mountain meadows to take flowers and sell them. Only few people have been graced with the beauty of a flower, sometimes in a vase or sometimes before burying a loved one. They are rare plants that do not grow upon the human ground. Almost as mystical and beautiful as the mountain itself.

Once her sketch is complete, she stands. Blood flows through her legs from her previously kneeling position cutting off her veins and she stretches for a moment. Her heart is steady, faith pulses quietly in her chest at this being her opportunity to help so many others.

The rest of the day is spent roaming alongside the stream. A lunch of precious bread and cheese is spared along with a sip from the clear water. A few times strange screeches and screams will echo from the thick forest line further up the mountain, but Angela takes great care to stay in the open grass. More flowers spring up, entire landscapes of colorful whites, yellows and purples. She sketches the flora diligently, taking samples and making a few notes of their smell and appearance.

It is when the shadows begin to lengthen that she sees something move along the slopping mountain side with her. A tight tangle of bushes and thin white aspens let her take strange roots from bulbous flowers. Her nail bites into one and a thick juice of black leaks from it. Hopeful at this, she stores it away. There are endlessly possibilities to what these roots could do for a sick body. Clinging to her book when she ducks under a few branches and enters the open meadow, her eyes catch subtle movement in the grass.

A man stands in the grass with his bare back towards her. His naked torso rolls with the movement of thick muscle, large even at his relaxed state. Leather straps cross over the man’s body, securing a large sword sheath against his back and a smaller, more shaped sword across his hip line.

A gasp escapes her when the pale skin of the man’s body melts into scales. From the waist down, bright emerald scales twist into a serpentine stil. Almost disappearing into the grass entirely, the green tail extends three time as long as the man’s torso, curling underneath him to uphold his human torso before lazily circling out into the meadow. A thick, powerful snake like being, with the body of a man. Dark hair, cut short, touches over his skull. She only glimpses the side of his turning cheek as she scrambles back under the circle of white aspens.

Quickly curling up under the base of a tree, hoping the wave of thin, long branches will hide her, Angela prays he didn’t see her. She did gasp, albeit quietly, and moved before his head turned into look into her direction.

When she dares a glance up, the leaves of the trees still sway slightly from her rash movement. The leaping of her heart into her throat turns her breathless.

"Come out, human,” a masculine and slippery voice calls, playful and almost hissing. “No need to hide when you’ve been found.”

She didn’t even hear his approach. Acceleration falls upon her heart but she stands. The book nearly crushes her chest with her tense arms. Taking her staff tightly in her free hand, she move under the branches to face the strong voice.

A prayer echoes quietly in her chest, faith still touching her veins as she straightens before the fearsome creature. His form wavers back and forth with powerful grace on his tail, propelling him to loom above her. Strong abs defined into the belly of the man are only cut out with leather straps. Controlling her breathing, she finds the face of the creature with a smirk and sepia irises. Angular eyes, with strong brows look her up and down. His gaze comes back to her face, seemingly satisfied with what he sees.

"You’re the first human this season, and a woman no less.” The faint hissing echoing in his words makes her spine shiver. A deadly tease that she faces head on. “Why would a human be here upon the mountain?”

Her book is her shield, the white oak staff her sword. Taking a breath, she keeps her eyes from wandering down the muscular form of the creature and to his emerald tail, almost mesmerized by the alien beauty of the half man half beast.

“I am seeking medicine.”

Genuine surprise lifts the creature’s brow, before he asks, “And where do you plan on finding this medicine?”

“It’s everywhere,” she says, finding her voice growing in strength. “In the roots, plants, even the flowers. I just need to find those that can help with illness.”

Curiosity shifts to amusement, the smirk on the creature’s face moves across his jaw as he tilts his head. The way he holds his mouth is almost odd, hiding something from her view while carefully moving his lips. She flickers her gaze away, not wanting attention to be called upon her stare at his pink mouth.

“Now, I need to continue my work.” A bold spirit possess her for a moment as she stares back at the human face. Confusion darts across the marbled creature before amusement once again takes its place. “I will be on my way.”

She turns away from the creature, making her way for the stream. Ribs shake at the intensity of her heart but she only gets in a few steps before the creature swiftly darts into her path. Her feet stumble back once before she collects herself at the man’s deadly smile. His speed betrays his large form as he’s only inches away from her now, looming.

“You believe you can walk this mountain like you belong here?” His hissing voice is alluring, and his irises are all too human but the weapons and green scales make her senses stay firm.

“Seeing as how you haven’t killed me yet, I don’t believe you’re going to stop me.” Her voice keeps steady as her hard stare returns the creature’s gaze. In the grass, his large tail shifts, moving silently to almost block off her right side. Knuckles turn white at she clenches her staff, but she lets hope still burn her sternum.

A sound echoes through his throat, a humming sort of hiss as he pulls his muscular body a few inches away, giving her space. Green scales curl under him as he lazily looks over her again. His expression completely shifts from predatory to nonchalant in a matter of seconds.

“You’re looking in the wrong place, human.” Her eyes snap to his face, taking in his relaxed gaze observing her book and staff.

“Where do I look?” The small blossom of hope beings blooming inside her heart, pushing fear aside. If anyone would know herbs or roots with healing properties, it would be this creature.

He turns his back, once again displaying the sculptured lines of defined muscle and leather straps. She swallows roughly when he looks back to her, an arrogant smile resting on his mouth.

“I’ll show you.”

He moves before she can respond, entrancing her gaze with the rhythmic slow motions of his green tail through the tall grass. Suspicion touches her mind briefly of the creature leading her to his home only to kill her there but she finds her feet following after the indentations in the grass left by his large serpentine body.

She still clings to her faith that no harm will come upon her, and the half man half beast will allow her to find essential herbs to aid in healing.

Walking behind the strange creature is a quiet pleasure in itself. It’s hypnotic to watch the scales of a snake move with the body of man. Relaxed and leisurely yet at any given time the muscles along his body is a warning to those close enough to see. He will occasional throw questions behind his shoulder, seemingly unconcerned of his exposed back to the human. She tells him about her book, and her caring of those with illness and helping mothers birth children. The stories whispered into her ear about what the herbs and plants could do if used correctly is why she’s here.  

“You care so much about healing humans that you risk coming here?” He speaks more as a rhetorical, eyeing her from the corner of his vision as they cross over a low valley. “I can’t decide if you are foolish, or just determined.”

“I want to heal,” she says simply, shifting her staff into her other hand. “I will heal.”

A more genuine smile touches his lips, surprising her for a moment.

It takes the time of the sun setting for them to travel, and as the minutes stretches on anxiety begins festering in her throat. The dark tree line presenting a thick forest seems like an option to escape if needed, but when he notices her stare he informs her that not even he goes there for the dark creatures lurking within its trees. She wouldn’t survive an hour there.

The stream has left her sights but her mind’s compass puts it just a little down the hillside if she needed to find it again. When they climb over a rocky hill just as the last view rays of light fade from the ground, he stops. Angela comes to his side, cautiously watching him but also viewing the valley within.

Underneath the boulder spotted hill stretches a meadow of pale green vegetation. Grass is dismissed as velvet lined leaves sprout and small flowers bloom. In the dirt lies hidden roots, inviting a hand to pull it free.

Twilight already proves difficult as she half slides half scrambles down the rocky edge, coming to the first plant to feel its odd texture between her figure tips. In the dying light she can barely detect the bluish green hue to its center.

Looking up, the creature’s gaze rests upon her as he passes by. Curiosity still touches his irises but he switches to a more lax expression at her sights. 

“Thank you,” she says, standing up and facing him. The sun is gone, leaving only the beginning of twinkling stars spreading out across the heavens. Her book is still clutched to her chest with her staff in her other hand as she stands before him.

“I don’t know your name,” she asks quietly.

He crosses her arms, muscles flexing under the simple movement and making her eyes stray from his face.

“Genji.” His expression is unreadable in the near darkness.

She gives a small smile in turn.

“My name is Angela.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	2. Angry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The meadow is a very small place for a monster and human to share.

He warns about night being the most deadly time, and suggests the option of his den. At the word she is curious to see where a creature like him lives, and follows him once again. The open land and bright starlight helps her see, but she swears she can hear him move through the grass only because he wants her to.

In a hillside hides a rocky cave, not too far from the meadow of plants. An opening that could be missed if one isn’t paying attention allows entry to a surprising spacious cave but the mess and slight smell of decay and sweat repulses her immediately. What he considers bedding is a mix of straw, sheep wool and feathers. Bones litter the opening of the cave, some large enough to compare to her torso and others eerily close to that of a human skeleton.

“You’re refusing my offer?” His disbelief is almost comical were it not for the situation.

“Your living space is filthy.” She’s already walking up a small slope to a circle of weeping willows. The swaying leaves offers slim protection but she’d rather sleep upon the ground in a shroud of trees then Genji’s den.

A small blanket and tarp serve as her protection during the night, and exhaustion lets her sleep without dreams. She doesn’t hear any movement throughout the night, but once she wakes to high pitch screeching that abruptly cuts off, to her astonishment. For a moment she hopes that it's not Genji, but he could very well be the reason the awful noise was cut short

Dewdrops dot her skin when the sun finally wakes her. She leaves the trees with her book and staff in hand to head to the meadow. A few small sticks are trapped in the strands of her hair but that is a small matter compared to the treasure waiting in the open meadow of flowers. Passing Genji’s cave, she only pauses for a moment to wonder if he is there when he slithers out without a sound. Startling her, his smirk makes heat touch her body.

“So you’re still alive,” a sly humor touches his eyes as she continues marching forward without looking at him.

“Evidently so,” her dry reply. Grass brushes against her legs, scales slither upon the ground when he comes to her side. She doesn’t look at his face, not wanting to falter at the expression that could be decorating his skin.

"Do you remember the way to the meadow?” He asks, keeping up with her brisk pace with ease as he still looms a good foot above her head.

“Yes.” It may have been dark, but the path is familiar to her feet when they come to the low, open end of the meadow. Just a little pass Genji’s den and nearly beside a river she is just now seeing in the morning light.

She opens her book and uproots the first plant, unsure of why Genji stays for a few moments, watching her sketch and pull a leaf to see what color the juice is. A small sound comes from him, either a hiss of confusion or disbelief, but when she looks up his green tail is cutting across the grass to the other side of the area. His bare back exposes strong muscles and leather straps holding wickedly curved swords.

Curses flow through her mind at the creature making red touch her cheeks. No one warned her that the monsters on the mountain could be handsome.

She tears her gaze away to focus on her work, replacing the green scales dotting her vision with the flora around her.

During her work, breaks only occur to eat a few bites of food and to drink from her flask that she fills in the river but it makes her feel uneasy. The water is much deeper than the stream she followed before, but it moves so slowly it’s almost still. Deathly still. She doesn’t dwell there more than needed.

Her own knowledge and personal experience helps her identify some of the plants from medical journals she studied when going through college. There is nowhere near enough information for the medical uses of plants, but when a rumor rushes through the town of someone obtaining this plant or that flower, any doctors is quick to buy it. She can identify nearly all the flowers, but most of the plain, shrubbery like plants are foreign to her.

Keeping samples and sketching those she does and doesn’t know, she makes notes of their effects of fever reducing or relief for swelling in her book. Some parts of the flowers are poisonous while others will help aches and clean the blood.

It’s nearly dusk when she finishes her last sketch of what she firmly believes to be foxglove. The entire grove is her work station and she still has only identified but a few of the plants scattered everywhere.

“You’ve been busy.”

Her heart leaps to her throat as she drop her charcoal sticks. Glaring behind her, Genji leans back on his tail with an all too familiar smirk, silently appearing with an impossible thick mass of a tail.

“Must you do that?” She grumbles, reaching for the stick that rolled a few feet away in the grass but finds fingers already wrapping around it. He gives it to her outstretched hands, letting his skin touches her for a moment in a stark contrast of warmth.

“Did you find what you were looking for?” Ignoring her glare and question, he looks over her shoulder to her lap and the book with scattered lines shaping the flowers she sees. She holds it up, rereading over her last passage of writing.

“Yes, but I’ve only begun my work.” It should only take a few days to go through the entire meadow but there is more to the mountain side than just this small grove. Plants don't last long before shriveling up, but if she can gather enough supplies, she can help fight illness in the cruel months of winter. 

“Begun?” His question is sharp, and she turns to face him. He looms closer than she anticipated, unable to help but notice the slight glisten of sweat covering his torso from the day’s activity. Scales fade into the grass behind him, curled lazily almost around to her.

“I only know half these plants and their uses. I need to take samples and gather the ones I know already to help perfect remedies for symptoms and—”

“You shouldn’t stay here longer than needed.” He cuts her off, bringing her brow to a furrowed point.

“I need a few more days.” She speaks firmly, glaring back at him with a tight jaw. “I am not leaving until I’ve finished.”

His serpentine body lashes in the grass, emphasizing the frustration tensing throughout his expression. She gets to her feet, unrelenting her hard stare.

“This is foolish.” He speaks, rising slightly up on his tail to once again loom over her. This does not weaken her anger. “This land isn’t meant for ignorant humans.”

“I am not ignorant, and I will do what I please.” She speaks with a level voice even as anger touches her tongue. “What I do does not concern you.”

He opens his mouth, stalls for a moment to find words before letting a sharp hiss startle her heart. Still, she stands firm. Anger holds his face as his serpentine body moves faster than she thought possible around her, trudging up the slope and into his den without another word.

Scowling at the book in her hands, she closes it and tucks it close. Shifting her staff into her palm, she uses it as a walking stick up the small slope back to the grove of weeping willows. She keeps her gaze ahead on the low hand branches of her resting place, ignoring Genji’s den.

As she thinks back on the tense conversation, it irritates the logical part of her mind that his reaction made her so angry. Yet, she cannot dissect why Genji was so heated by her simply wanting to stay a few more days. If a human staying close by means trouble or something else terrible, he surely would have dealt with her. He has helped her to this meadow, and yet seems to be annoyed by her simple presence.

She decides the half man, half beast is simply unreasonable. The night is spent under the trees cursing the creature and trying to cool the anger that shouldn’t be kindled in her chest.

           

*

 

The days are spent in tense looks and silence. Genji will outright pass her by without sparring her a look while her own glare is biting into his backside. The haughty air he’s put on is childish, and she has far more important things to focus on then him simply existing so close to her.

Her documents are slow to make, but the details and words are nearly perfect and clear. Every new flower is uprooted and pressed into a pouch for safe keeping. Her bag slowly empties of her food supply and is replaced with her samples. New roots and leaves remain sketched on the page but their uses—if anything— remain blank.

On the sixth sunrise since her journey to the mountain meadows, Genji waits at the entrance of his den when she descends down the little slope from her circle of trees. His gaze watches her slowly travel across the small space between their resting places in order to get to the meadow.

“Angela,” he says, stopping her. On reflex her shoulders tense, readying for whatever mood he wants to throw at her today.  

“Genji,” she says calmly, turning to watch him slowly slither to a stop in front of her. He isn’t looming much today, but his gaze is hard, unreadable.

“I wouldn’t go to the river for the next three days. I can get you any water you need.”

She blinks, shifting her staff to her other hand.

“Why?”

“I’m not the only one who lives around here.” He crosses his arm, covering some of the leather straps on his body. A smirk rises on his lips, teasing her.

“But what you do doesn’t concern me, after all.”

Her sharp expression makes his smug smile grow. Biting her tongue, she cools herself internally before looking back at him again.

Her natural instinct is to find out more, but if Genji is any indication of what could be around here, she doesn’t wish to meet more creatures than necessary. If anything, he is the outlier to the horrors that could easily befall any human wandering these grassy hills.

As arrogant as he is, his offer to retrieve water is soothing the sore spot in her chest.

“Okay,” she breathes, opening her pack to retrieve the flask. Usually she walks to the river in the morning and fills it up for the day. Instead, his hands take the water container and turns without another word to her. Silently, he wavers his serpentine body pass her, and she follows the green scales until he is farther down the slope. 

A huff deflates the tension in her body as she watches the lines of marbled muscle along his back move carefully away. His tail leaves a path through the dew dipped grass, thousands of small emeralds glistening in the sunrise.

A dark cloud filters through her brain at any thought towards him, tugging and pulling in every different direction without real momentum. Nothing is concrete enough to stand her frustration or gratitude upon. Throwing the irritating creature from her mind, she continues on to the grove.

He brings her water, and she only speaks a soft thank you that he acknowledges with a brief nod. Instead of disappearing over the grassy plain, he takes to the rocky hill rising up on half the meadow and lies upon a large flat boulder. In the sun, he spreads out across his stomach, keeping his swords on but letting the day’s warmth touch upon his scales. After mid afternoon, she’s certain he’s fallen asleep but every now and then he’ll turn onto his side, shifting his tail so another part will be kissed by the sun.

She doesn’t know what to make of it, other than him simply enjoying a lazy day. He’s not close enough to take in the details of his face, but she images a calm, clear expression. Maybe he looks soft without that infuriating smirk.

She finishes her work when the sun begins dying. Her flask is empty, but she doesn’t want to call out to him to get more. She’d rather disappear from the scene of him sprawling out in the sun but she soon hears his approach this time. Down through the grass and to her sitting spot but letting his presence sound.

He takes her flask silently, warm fingers touching hers for a moment before he moves gracefully to the river. The rest of the sore anger stirring in her chest dies when he returns and bids her a safe rest. 

The next morning, she can’t stand the greasy touch to her hair, and leaves her book carefully wrapped in cloth under her circle of trees. Genji is waiting by his den when she emerges from the weeping willows, and moves to meet her but she doesn’t slow her pace when he asks for the flask.

“I’m going to the little stream today.”

He falls behind her footsteps for one moment before catching up, his smirk fading.

“Why there?”

“I need to wash up, and since the river is out of the option at the moment, that is the next best place.”

He stops, thinking for a moment before saying, “It’s dangerous for you to travel by yourself.”

She barely glances back at his tighten jaw, flickering over her form before catching her stare. For a moment, she wonders if he’ll offer to come with her.

“I’ll manage.” Her reply.

A soft hiss leaves his throat at that.

“Do what you want, human. I don’t care, but do try to not get killed by something.” Her neutral tones must be just as testing when he tries to appear caring.

“I’ll try.” She calls, following the familiar path that Genji used to lead her here.

Angela doesn't look back, but a faint hiss hits her backside, and a petty smile touches her lips at not being the only one toyed with off and on. It wasn't planned, but perhaps this will teach him to stop playing games with her. 

A thought hits her as she leaves the grassy hillside behind, and it disturbs her settled thoughts. 

Perhaps she is not the only one confused by their little existence in the meadow and unsure of how to approach the new person in their presence. 

 

*

 

Damp hair still clings to her neck as she scales the rocky hill just before the meadow. The little stream was cold from the melting snow, but she washed her skin with cloth in intervals instead of full on bathing. The mountain is still dangerous, and she would at least like to have some clothes on her body at any given point if she needed to run.

Now clean, a lightness fills her veins and lets her smile at the setting sun. Her clothes are damp, but they are nearly dried from the washing they received. Finishing the rest of the book doesn’t seem so daunting now, as if the fresh water replenished her will and energy.

When she reaches the peak of the rocky hillside, the meadow stretches out before her and allows the smallest view of Genji’s den. By the entrance, green scales glimmer and rise, almost perking up at seeing her against the lavender sky.

She comes to his den, smiling and less hostile then previously. The little stream did wonders to her mood. His expression is almost light, looking over her with the all too familiar smirk on his lips, as if anger never touched upon him just this morning.  

“I’m alive.” She announces, before noticing his gaze around her shoulders. Her hood is down, letting the air touch her hair more easily but as she thinks on it, this is the first time she’s let her gold locks be free from being tied back since being on the mountain face.

“Good.” He says easily, almost with a quiet relief.

A silent moment stretches, and she breaks it with a goodnight as she goes to step by him and to the trees.

“I’ve never seen your hair down before.” He speaks, almost moving his hand as if to reach out and touch a blond strand. 

She turns, one hand touching the mention subject while watching his unashamed gaze over her head. He leans back on his tail, coiling slightly around himself as he watches her.

“It gets in the way if I don’t put it up.” She explains, letting her hand slip back to her side.

A soft hissing hum leaves him, a more content sound she recognizes. She finds blush dusting her cheeks at his intense stare, but it turns to being unamused when a smirk grows.

“You mock me.” She says dully, turning away at his expression.

“I never said you were not what you are!” He exclaims, and she turns on the slope to find for once, their height is matched as he moves a little closer. Even when he rises a little on his powerful serpentine body, she still meets his gaze without having to tilt her head back. Their level gazes allows a better view of his sepia irises. She must use the slope to her advantage more often.

“Which is?” She asks, more than ready to leave this and go to sleep.

“Beautiful.” His gaze genuinely holds her at the word, aimed at her guarded expression before she gives a slow nod.

“Thank you,” she says carefully, still watching for any signs of deceit before turning away. His stare touches against her back as she disappears into the shade of weeping willows, only now letting confusion and blush dot her cheeks.

He is truly unreasonable and unimaginable. One moment teasing her with his unforgiving stare and the next angry and moody.

The next morning greets her with Genji asking about her book. After getting her flask filled, they settle down in what she considers a sitting position for him with his eyes looking over her shoulder. His breath will touch the stray locks of hair framing her face but she keeps her focus on turning the pages and telling of the information she was able to write down.

When she comes to a particular root sketched in the book without any written lines as she doesn’t know anything of it, Genji easily tells her that it will lower a fever.

She asks him if he’s sure, only making him cement his statement. He calls it a strange name her tongue has a hard time molding, but she decides to write it down.

The morning disappears in a blur of new information as Genji’s words murmur closely into her ear. He is right next to her, and her skin is hyper focused at the energy of his body. One little move and she could press against his bare chest. The thought makes her blink, pausing her writings but adding a sense of urgency to continue before he notices her hesitance.

She lets a comment slip by that he could have helped her sooner but his only, albeit poorly made, defense is his assumption of her knowing them already.

When noon comes upon them, he stops their work to bring fruit from his den. She at first doesn’t take the red fruit from his hands but he convinces her that it is safe and she could save some of her rations if she wishes to continue working on the mountain. The strange fruit is full of many purple reddish seeds that pops and bleeds tangy flavors onto her tongue. It makes her fingers appear like they were dipped in blood when she frees the seeds from within the fruit but Genji is worst then she. It drips down his chin without care, making her laugh at his wide eye expression upon her stare before he wipes his skin clean.

He says they can go to the river to clean up, but she must listen to him carefully if they are to do so. She agrees, curious and wanting the sweet juice gone from her hands before it becomes too sticky.

The river flows just as slow and flat as it ever has, but he makes her wait a few feet from shore as he approaches it first. His tail moves slowly beside her as the curves of his back hold her gaze, a comfort she doesn’t know exists. After a few minutes of him scanning the water, he beckons her forward, bending over the river to wash his body clean.

She does her best to not stare at the water droplets on his prominent strong chest, but he catches her once with a purplish red smirk that makes nearly the same color rise on her cheeks.

They return to the meadow after the uneventful trip to the river and together, they fill the gaps in the pages she missed.

The light begins to bleed away, and she sets the book aside and looks up to the sky. Genji lowers himself carefully onto the grass, one elbow propping his head up as Angela gives in to resting on her backside. His tail swishes through the grass, settling down. He’s still so close coming from his position looking over her shoulder, but she doesn’t let it tug at her mind too much. The stars are gleaming bright, and the night is cool but fresh.

When she turns her head for the briefest moment on the grass, his gaze is already burning against hers. The ever present smirk on his face wants her to blush, to be flustered, but she tightens her jaw and stares back. There are very few inches between them, and she can almost feel his breath touching her cheek.

“Why must you do this?” She asks softly, watching his eyes gleam in the dark.

“I love teasing you.” A quiet laugh follows after her expression shifts to unamused, but it quickly slips away.

“You’re cruel,” she states lightly.

“Every part of me is meant to hurt and kill,” he flashes his teeth, teasing the slight hint of enlarged fangs nestled deep in his mouth. “You can’t be angry at what I am.”

“Yes, I can.” Not missing a beat as to not let her voice give herself away, her statement is true. She can be angry that he is beautiful and unearthly. She can be furious that he plays with her blushed cheeks and damp hair just to see her reaction. She can be infuriated that he’s been helpful and yet impossible to deal with all at once.

The same hissing hum rises in his chest, a note of being at ease as he eases closer in the dark. His face is near enough that only an inch separates them in the meadow. She doesn’t move, holding her ground as to not let him pull back victorious.

His lips curve in a grin, but soften as she bashes her eyelashes slowly. Handsome. It makes her heart ache in confusion and drown in the want to touch him. 

Her hand reaches in the space between them, forgetting anger and frustration to brush against his chest as her fingers trail upwards to touch his jaw. The sudden white to his eyes propels her further, letting her duck under his piercing gaze and shift against the ground. Pressing her lips to the corner of his jawbone and throat, she misses her intended mark of his cheek, but finds this act just as effective. When she pulls back, the powerful creature before her is stunned.

“I can be very angry,” she whispers, breathless, hopeful.

In one swift motion she is on her feet. He doesn’t react to her walking up the hill towards her bed behind curtains of weeping willows. When she gets to the base of the trees, she hears his movements, and feels his burning gaze upon her back but she only slips behind the gently swaying branches.

He does not disturb her that night, and she’s left with nothing but the sensation of warm skin against her lips and his stunned expression.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	3. Distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela is pretty sure she messed up and Genji is conflicted, but rain has a way of clearing up a lot of things.

She’s not sure what the day will bring, but Genji is waiting when she wakes. Her book, or rather, their book, is quickly filling, but the meadows and the healing roots are still innumerable. Her simple pack is overwhelmed with her goods, but she isn’t ready to leave just yet.

There is no mentions of her actions from last night. In fact, he only tells her briefly about a grove of trees she may find of use a little ways north. It’s strange the way he looks and even talks to her, as if suddenly distance and withdrawn. He may be simply thoughtful today, but his smirks are gone, and she can’t help but notice it is only after her touch.

His body silently trails a path through the grass, allowing her to easily follow him. They go up, closer to the dark, dense tree line that will occasionally throw demonic screams from within the dark spaces. A grove of seemingly carefully tended trees are blooming with blossoms. He tells of what the flowers will bear, large, delicious fruits and nuts that help the body in simply feeling well. She begins her notes, sketching the blossoms on the different trees as Genji finds an open enough spot to lounge down and let the sun warm his scales.

Hundreds of tiny emeralds turn, shimmering in the sunlight just as she finishes the last orange colored petal blooming on dark bark. She has a few notes for each, but she’ll need to return to draw the fruits themselves as they have not yet bared fruit. When she looks, Genji is, from her point in the shroud of trees, asleep.

Whenever they venture beyond the meadow, his swords are always tied to his person. Today’s exploration is no exception as the leather straps are set carefully aside on a branch within his reach. The hilt of the swords gleam with polished metal and designs too elegant for human hands. Wickedly beautiful.

She shifts closer to the patch of sunlight that Genji rests in, and quietly sketches his face in charcoal across a blank page in the back of the book. Asleep, without that infuriating smirk or sharp brow, he’s handsome. Her skills are very simple, but she hopes to at least capture the essence of what he is in the sunlight.

A thought will bump against her mind throughout the time in the trees that she did something she shouldn’t have, and now she has lost his smirk, his teasing closeness. Her lips had sucked a warmth away she didn’t know would leave behind such a baren coldness.

It makes her rub her arms, as if her flesh is feeling the ice as well. 

Before they leave, Genji snakes up the side of a tree to reach one of the highest blossoms. A pink and red color flower, he places it in her palm, telling her to do what she will with it. For one moment, he flashes her a smirk, but it doesn't touch his eyes. 

She tucks in behind her ear, earning a soft stare from Genji as they walk back down to the meadow. Her mind becomes even more wrapped in confusion at his withdrawn state combined with the little flower.

Nerves touch through her at him bringing up the events of last night, but the worry is for nothing. In fact, he doesn’t talk to her about much besides her book, studies and what else she would like to see or know. An almost, polite way of treating her that is foreign from the smirking smile that was once piercing through her.

Perhaps it’s her own doing, scaring a great creature with a kiss that wasn’t even that. The thought brings a sting to her throat and eyes. She curses it away, unable to understand why his sudden wall is slamming so hard against her bones. 

Three days pass in a different silence. Before, it was of frustration and not knowing how to take the other, now, she’s left clueless as Genji seems to be avoiding her. She finishes her book, and her pack is beyond full to the brim with flowers, herbs and roots that will help many people. At her daring soul braving the grass to tell him this, he gives a smile that doesn’t touch his eyes in arrogance and she waits for him to speak.

“You are taking your leave now, I presume.” He says, curled lazily beside her in the meadow, looking across the hillside instead of at her, avoiding her eyes once again.

“No.” She says, earning his sharp gaze in a moment. “I’m staying until the first snow falls.”

His brow furrows, understanding that spring is still in the air, and summer and autumn go on much longer.

“Didn’t you get what you came here for?” An almost accusation soften by restraint.

“Yes… but I'm not ready to leave yet. I want to gather more herbs for use and still explore.” That is only half of her wants.

She’s ready for his sudden anger, for him to tell her to leave because of her foolishness and oblivion to danger but he finally holds her gaze for longer than a flickering second. Sepia irises, human and shimmering along with green scales, stay with her as he breathes out quietly.

“You know it’s dangerous.”

“You know I do, but I don’t feel afraid with you.” Maybe it’s the wrong thing to say, especially after his cold shutdown at her lips against his jawline, but she says it anyways. She can find another part of the vast mountain side to bunker down while gathering more healing agents until the snow falls. If he doesn’t want her, she will not linger.

The thought echoes in her mind, threatening to close her throat and make her eyes prickle with unwanted emotions.  

He shifts in the grass, moving behind her with lethal silence as his scales touch her lower back. His body moves to face her, offering one hand out to her. The distance and cool acknowledgments from the last few days seem to melt away at his outstretched fingertips.

From the weeks of spending time on the mountain with him in a confusing, messy thing of lingering stares and heated stances, she hesitates, but it is not for long that she makes him wait. She places her hand in his grasp, sighing at the sudden hold of warmth.

“Then I will do my best to help you.” His declaration as he bows his head over her knuckles and presses his lips tenderly to her hand. Her heart stills, feeling lost in the tall grass but anchored to his heat.

This will keep her now.

Whatever held him back is no longer anchoring what she has come to know of him. In the morning when they greet each other, he’ll pick any small twigs from her hair with a far fetched comment about her beauty in the morning sunlight. He travels with her to the river, when it’s safe for her, and brush water drops from her cheeks with gentle fingers. It's as if he's been holding back from touching her for too long, and now just wants to hold her hands to make up for lost time. His smirks return full force, and she almost regrets missing them. 

She holds her breath for few days, afraid of his cold rejection but it doesn’t come again. After a week of him entirely being constant, confirming his station of help with kisses on her knuckles or brave sweeps of her hair from her eyes, she lets herself take his hands and kiss his fingers. 

It's time they both stop holding back in fear.

The spring days warm as she adds any final thoughts or more information about a root or how best to administer it as a stomach ache reliever in the book. Genji is busy some days, gone before returning over the rocky hill or across the river before nightfall. When she pushes herself a little too far, she has charcoal staining her fingertips and eyes blurry from writing too long. When he takes hours to simply sunbath, she draws him in cautious secret, never finding her lines close to that of his handsome features. Sometimes, he asks for her to join him, and she gives in to sitting by his resting side.

His smirks still bring a blaze within her, and his anger will lash out when she forgets what days she can’t go to the river, but he also leaves his serpentine body in her path to purposely cut her off or surround her entirely. When she is wrapped loosely in his scales, he’ll come close, teasing her once again. Close enough that their breaths mingles before turning away, laughing at her unamused expression that only holds for seconds before melting into a suspended grin.

He holds her hands, and always waits for her to accept his offer before kissing her knuckles or leading her to a strange flora underneath an ash tree. The evenings are theirs to sit and watch the land. In the quiet, they’ll both be daring enough to trace the lines in the others palms. His hands are large, and carved with callouses from the hilt of his sword. He will cover her hands in his, smirking at the small size until she kisses his fingertips.

He is still ridiculous, but warm.

****

**_SUMMER_ **

 

As the summer air begins to seep through the light chill of spring, clouds gather, and it pours through the weeping willows one night. The first rain.

Her book is rushed into her pack as she uses her own back as a shield from the rain in order to preserve her precious work. He calls her name, and she emerges from the willows to see him in the mouth of his cave.

“Come get out of the rain,” he calls, watching her hunch over her pack and book.

Her noise wrinkles at the last memory of his den.

“I don’t know if the rain is worst than your home.” She eyes him pointedly through the downpour, earning an exasperated sigh from him. 

“I cleaned it, and you’ll get cold standing there.” He holds his hand out, fingertips dripping with rain as she gives in. Getting through the slippery grass and taking his hand, the dry air is much more pleasant than the rain drops clinging to her ponytail.

The small opening leads to a rather spacious cavern, and true to his word, it is put together much nicely then when he first introduced his home.

The bones are all gone, along with the terrible smell being replaced with a spicy scent wafting from a small row of dried herbs against one wall. Downing feathers and clean straw hold up half of the space, the other holds his weapons and their holsters, along with a few gleaming gold treasure of armor and jewelry. Several candles burn, casting dim shadows but offers a soft light.

Lowering her hood and wiping the water from the front of her face and hair, she turns to Genji moving past her.

“It looks much better, Genji.” She compliments while not holding back her smug tone. She knows in full the reason behind this.

“It needed to be done.” Nonchalant, but he says this avoiding her eyes.

“Of course.” She humors, setting her pack against the wall before shaking off her coat. She frees her book, carefully going over the pages to insure that no raindrops have marred the sketches or words. Putting it away relieved, she looks up to find Genji stretched out on his bedding. The green scales shimmer in the faint candlelight as they curve around his backside and layer against the wall. Open space invites her as he waits on his side, watching her carefully with a lazy grin.

“Care to join me?” He asks, albeit softly, still measuring her expression.

Reaching to her tied hair, she undoes it in one quick motion, letting the blond locks touch her shoulders as she crosses the room. He’s quiet, shifting as she kneels down beside him.

There isn’t so much fear but nervousness. They’ve been close before, and their hands are constantly holding the others but this is intimate. She’s still not sure if kissing, or using one’s lips is a form of romance to him, even when he has on multiple occasions kissed her hands. She hasn’t attempted a true kiss since his cold shutdown initially threw her off.

Instead, she reaches across the little space and touches his hair. Slowly, she lets the short ends stick up between her fingers before the odd hissing hum rises in his throat. Moving just as carefully, his tail pushes him across the floor to have his torso draping cross her legs. She moves to take the added weight and keeps her gaze from bluntly staring down his marbled chest.

Her hand still touches through his hair as he looks up to her, lost from the smirk and arrogance that usually surrounds him. This is new to both, and she takes comfort in that he is as awed by this as she.

“Are you comfortable?” He asks, his hand rubs along the back of her arm, his skin and friction creating heat.

She gives a quiet nod, trailing her fingers down his hairline, circling his ear before touching the curve of his throat and jaw. The same place she kissed him before. Whatever piece of her soul is brave, it posses her to be daring once more. Parting her lips, she slowly bends over him, ghosting a breath against his skin. He lies perfectly still for her.

It’s quick, a simple peck along his jaw before she pulls back in the dim light cast by tiny flames of fire.

“Genji… do you like that?” Her hesitance is clear, but his hand cups her arm in a steady reassurance.

“Why do you think I wouldn’t?” A tease touches his mouth that makes her look up to the ceiling of the cave in irritation. She huffs, and his shifting body moves her gaze back to him.

“Because it seemed I was overstepping my boundaries when I first did it.” The stunned expression of his still sits clearly in her mind, and she doesn’t know what to make of it even now.

He lets out a quiet chuckle, rumbling against her until he trails his hand up her arm and to her collarbone. Through the fabric of her shirt, his fingers outline it gently.

“It surprised me.” He speaks honestly. “Then you left and I remembered you wouldn’t be here much longer… It didn’t seem fair to give in to your mesmerizing gaze just to have you leave—but of course you decided otherwise just to torture me.”

She scoffs at his melodramatic tone sporting a mock wounded expression. Trying to not shiver at his fingertips against her shoulder moving in such a gentle motion, she focuses enough to speak.

“You were the one who suddenly cut me off." Her tone hardens at that, frowning slightly. "I didn’t know what to make of it except that you couldn’t possibly stand me.”

“I was just being a fool,” he disagrees, lifting his hand free to touch the edge of her jaw. "I didn't... I didn't know I could care so much for someone before you."

Warm fingers leave fire in their wake as he brushes a lock of her hair back. Breathing quietly, she lets her eyelids flutter at his touch. Her heartbeat settles in the quiet security held in the walls of his den as rain echoes outside. The flickering lights moves as he does, slowly rising to be too close and perhaps able to hear her shivering breath.

His hesitation, his cold walls and sudden distance. Has she caused that much of a mess? Is her presence effecting him so much that the mighty monster is unsure and afraid of losing her, a human?

“Angela,” he murmurs, a glow in his eyes as she looks back. His hand now cups her cheek, and her own rests against his chest. She only now notices that his tail curls around her in a loose circle. As if he wants to feel her with all of his being.

“Hmm?” She manages, feeling her breath leave her body when he moves his mouth slowly. Bending away from her lips in surprise and disappointment, his own touches against her jaw. Along the entire frame until he comes to the corner of her mouth. He pulls back, soft and smug and too much.

That is enough. 

She closes the distance, curling her fingers through his hair to push him to her. This moment has been teased by him over and over and now she takes it with her teeth. He makes the smallest sound of surprise in his throat against her mouth, making happiness and fear strike through her at once but he falls against her like water tumbling from a great height. Cool and strong. His lips move hers like a dance, pressing against every inch. No longer separating themselves with space and hesitation, she feels him breath against her ribs, and his arm wraps around her waist to somehow pull her closer.

Once again, she surprises him, but she isn’t angry or afraid. All she wants is him.  

He tastes like the mountain. Sharp and dangerous, beautiful and soft. Gentle but hungry, as if he’s been craving this as much as her thoughts have entertained it. His touch moves against her skin, letting her feel the want and need in his nerves. It dashes the fears and confusions away, and for once, he isn’t infuriating her with teases and pretty teeth. She tastes him like water after days in the desert.  

All she wants is him, and the creature, the half man, half beast, wants her too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥
> 
> Also, I chanted 'I hate slow burns' as I wrote this chapter~


	4. Remedy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji reluctantly tells Angela a little more about himself

Thunder shakes the very air, waking her in a foreign place. The cave walls have her in confusion and then remembrance before she lifts her head. His chest was her pillow through the night, and his arms still rest around her waist. A soft sound leaves his throat when she moves, but she quietly settles back down. He shifts for a moment, coiling his serpentine body before tightening his arms around her for one brief moment. Her eyes stare up at him from resting on top of his chest, drinking in the soft eyelashes and pale skin.

Their kiss last night feels like a dream, a fantasy the rain made up but here she lies against him. The dark clouds that once pulled her back and forth have faded to clear minds and soft hearts. Her lips brush gently against his throat, loving this moment.

Her hand reaches up and traces the line of his collarbone as another roar of thunder booms outside. He’s warm, and she’s surrounded by him. There is no better place.

The circle of weeping willows loses its guest as the next few days force them to stay in the cave. She and Genji will both venture for minutes to retrieve fruit or water, but they always return to nestle down and keep warm. They’ll go over her book, double checking the information and noting if there are any other places they could explore to find new vegetation.               

Genji moves slowly during this time, mindful of his serpentine body and the small space and her but she’s happy to be on the receiving end of his lips. He’ll dot his mouth along her jaw, a sort of tease that’s a reminder of her first kiss before fluttering over her cheeks and nose. When he curls around her at night, whatever position they end up in, he’ll trail a line over her collarbones and shoulder blades, wherever he can reach. He finds a sensitive spot at the base of her skull along the back of her neck, making her shiver with each kiss.

Before the sound of rain and his peaceful breaths can lull her to sleep, she explore his skin. He has a weakness along the bottom of his torso, before skin turns to scales along his hipbones. She traces her fingertips there, making him melt in her arms like honey. The soft sounds he makes at her touch echoes within her warmly, and she finds his loving stare whenever she sighs in contentment.

When the rain clouds begin to fade one night, Angela goes back through her book, a line of charcoal in her hand as he rests in her lap. Her thoughts wander as the last of the raindrops fall.

Her parents died when she was barely old enough to remember them, and that left her in the hands of any family that could afford an extra mouth to feed. From schooling to setting up a house in the town at the base of the mountain where the people could finally have a doctor in their mists, she’s been alone. Not lonely, she was too busy fulfilling her work and helping those who needed it. Children with terrible illnesses would come to her door in the arms of desperate parents, and her own remedies would be applied but it was never enough. Human’s barely scrapped together medicine isn’t strong enough compared to the roots and plants living on the mountain. Simple conditions are killing babies, and when the last of the snow melted she decided to look for healing herbs herself.

She was never lonely, but she was painfully alone in her work. In the flood of warmth and physical contact that drowns her senses in this week alone, she doesn’t know she went so long without it. His presence is calming and she wants to taste his skin. He is as arrogant as he is loving, his lips wake her body to joyful peace. Murmurs flood from his tongue about her beauty, about her laughter filling the air like music.

He is a life she didn’t know she could touch.

His voice pulls her out of her thoughts, asking what she is dreaming about. The answer is tossed aside like the book before her kiss touches his temple, telling him about nothing.

The clouds sweep away to give breath to the mountain side after days of hiding it. Rain still lingers in the air after the drops on the grass still wet her shoes as she goes to retrieve more herbs and roots. Genji travels over the hill and is absent the entire day, giving her time to grind juices free from stems and pour in slim glass vials.

He returns just as night falls and she’s memorizing the different color liquids from each root. His movements are slow as he curls upon the ground the moment he reaches his bedding. Her name slips past his lips but a quiet groan follows after.

“Genji?” She asks, immediately looking to him. Abandoning the glass containers to kneel beside him, he only lies quietly on his side. Pressing two fingers against his brow, she feels his heat, noting the same temperature as always. 

“It’s okay, Angela,” he speaks unconvincingly with a tight expression, “I just ate too much.”

She stills, looking to him as her brow furrows.

“You ate too much?” She stops for a moment. “You have a belly ache?”

The sheepish look he gives her at the wording has her sighing as she stands. She has had plenty of time to understand that he is a powerful creature but sometimes the lengths he goes to as to uphold his pride is ridiculous.

Although an unanswered question tugs at her brain, she focuses on finding the right bulb. Crushing it into extract with a rock in the candle light, she mixes the dark liquid with red juice from a fruit to sweeten it slightly before coming back to Genji’s side.

“Drink this,” she says, touching his hand for a moment as he takes the glass vial. “It will make you feel better.”

He touches it to his lips, smelling it with a wrinkled nose before actually drinking it. Some liquid spills down the side of his mouth before he hands it back to her. Groaning, and flopping back on the ground, he moans like a child.

“If this kills me, you’ll have the honor of slaying a great monster upon the mountain.” His tease isn’t lost on her but neither is the tightness to his tone. Although he jests about her work, he didn't hesitate to take her remedy. The absolute confidence he has in her lightens a small weight in her rib cage. 

“Hush, Genji.”

She puts away the glass and settles the rest of her things for the night. Moving back to him, she sits besides him. There is no wait for him to put his head in her lap.

“What did you eat, Genji?” She asks quietly, touching through his hair.

He’s slow to answer, but it appears to be more from hesitance then him feeling awful.

“Mountain sheep.” He says as if testing the water. Although his eyelids are open only half way, he doesn’t look away from her face.

Her brow holds crinkled, still not grasping the picture. “Whole?”

The pause this time almost lasts so long that she feels the need to repeat herself, but he answers before she can part her lips.

“Not entirely whole, but mostly, yes.” His tense body under her legs betrays his anxiety to her reaction, but it’s her own ignorance that she has to address.

Genji is a monster of the mountain side, but she didn’t connect that the fruit he’ll sometimes eat with her wouldn’t come close to giving his body the energy needed to power the mass of his entire being. Meat is essential, especially with the muscles lining his torso.

“How?” She asks lightly, wanting to reassure him but also intrigued. Her finger touches the corner of his mouth, and at her gentle tugging he opens his jaw to her. She’s seen the fangs nestled in his mouth before, but never for a time long enough to study them. Bending over him, her pinkie touches his front teeth, human and familiar, but finds the set of curved daggers hiding in the back of his mouth. They are frighteningly large, and his mouth would have to open quite wide to deliver the venom. 

“My venom finishes my prey,” he speaks once she moves her hand away from his mouth. “But I can unhook my jaw to deliver it.”

Again, he tenses against her, his tail twitching slightly to reflect the nervousness but that only makes her ask more questions. He answers them slowly, cautious of frightening her but she only wants to know. Her curiosity slowly eases his explanations from his lips. 

His venom is deathly poisonous, one bite will kill nearly everything, even other creatures like himself who dare challenge him. By eating a large amount in one sitting, he won’t have to hunt again for roughly another week, two if he eats too much. There are animals who roam around the mountain, but they are much lower down and tend to stay away from the dark forest above. He doesn’t eat humans, a fact she already knows, but there are some monsters on the mountain who do. 

He relaxes after her questions come to a stop and she’s left to ponder this. Still playing with his hair, she tumbles the information over in her head. She wants to ask for his venom, which can be an amazing healing agent if treated correctly but he is tired. Her request can wait until morning.

"Are you feeling better?" she asks, tracing his jawline for a moment.

"Much better," he says, slightly awed as if only now realizing his belly ache has disappeared. "I don't know how I survived without you, doctor."

She rolls her at the title in his voice, as if he hasn't whispered her true name over and over again during the night. 

"You need to take better care of yourself," she chastises, frowning at his careless smirk. 

A yawn breaks through her worried expression, breaking her attempted rebuke, and without a word he moves off her lap. 

“You’re not scared of me now, are you?” he asks, grinning his fangs for a moment. Stretching out with her as she lies down too, he still studies her face closely. She shifts her legs under the weight of the slimmer part at the end of his tail as it drapes over her. The green scales surround her every night, and still blend into the grass if she doesn’t pay close attention.

“I’ve never been scared of you.” Her own smirk lights up at his cocked eyebrow. Doubtful, but still going over her all the same.

“I must ask,” he speaks lowly, almost with an echo of a soft hiss in his words, “How did you simply turn away from me when we first met? I’ve never seen a human put their back to a monster, much less me.”

She breathes out for a moment, remember how fear did strike through her but the firm belief holding her ribs together stopped it from consuming her.

“I had faith that… because I came here searching for medicine, that I would be protected.” Her hand moves to his chest, one finger tapping against the space above his heart.

“I just didn’t realize it had come in the form of you.”

His hand reaches up and covers hers, feeling for a moment a strong beating of a heart before he takes her hips and pulls her closer. Wrapped in his arms, she never feels fear.

“Faith...” he hum quietly against her.

She nods, never wavering from this idea.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Angela,” he murmurs against her cheek, puncturing his sentence with a kiss to her eyelashes. “My beautiful flower.”

“I know.” She breathes against his throat, wrapping a leg around his lower back and feeling scales. “I will watch over you.”

She is not muscle and strength. She is not more than a human and decorated with fangs or claws, but she will be with him. She will protect him as much as he does her, and that is their oath whispered in the night.

The soft hissing hum in his chest pulls her into dreams as they both hold on to each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	5. Friend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji isn't the only monster on the mountain.

Summer days blur together into hours of sunlight and candlelight between the grass and the cool den. She busies herself with gathering as much plants as she can, and Genji is with her, or gone to retrieve fruit and to hunt.

When he can get her to join her on the rocks to take a break from straining her eyes upon her book, she rests her head on his stomach, watching the clouds as his fingers lazily rake through her hair. The crisp air and plant life and fruits seem to make her bones lighter; her lungs breathe easier as she continues on her work with Genji at her side.

He still teases her. When she stands ready to trek to a grove of fruit trees he’ll circle her. Blocking her escape with the bulk of his serpentine body as his smirk twirls around her. She waits until he begins looming, acting fearsome until she reaches on her tiptoes to steal a kiss. It’s an easy victory as he gives in to holding her close and figuring out the taste of her tongue.

Another warm day touches her skin as she goes to the river to fill her flask. Genji is already on top of his rock, waiting for her to join him in the sunlight. The water is slow and calm, moving along at a leisure pace as the water gulps into the space of the empty container.

Something shifts in the water. Only a ripple, a sort of movement in her field of vision. Wet hands take the flask out of the water, holding it close as she bends over the water. It is still, and she stands with a twisted feeling in her gut. Genji would have come with her if it wasn't safe, but her skin prickles with a strange sensation of something close.

Eyeing the water one last time, she turns away.

Water splashes as a slimy texture wraps around the length of her arm. Gasping but unable to make a sound as she’s swiftly pulled back, she's dragged into the water, sputtering. Another slimy substance takes a hold of her leg, jerking her to face the river while barely keeping her against the water's edge where sand offers some refuge.

A woman looms over her from in the river as wickedly curled lips hide her teeth. Dark, olive skin with free flowing brunette hair touches over her exposed shoulders. She towers over Angela easily, only a strip of cloth covers her chest and exposes her belly. Dark skin fades at the woman's waist into purple, nearly black textured flesh that splits apart into slick, oil like tentacles, a few which are wrapped around Angela.

“I was wondering when you were going to wander down here by yourself.” Her voice is as slippery as the water Angela lies in. It comes up to her chest as she’s sprawled on her back against the sand, but she knows that on a whim this creature can drag her into the river. It makes her lungs accelerate, trying to keep up with the adrenaline pushing through her veins.

She doesn’t know if she should try to call for Genji, or simply convince the river creature to let her go. Her heart pounds in her chest, but she holds her expression with a hard gaze instead of fear.

The creature’s tentacles mostly lie in the water where a few of the purple black ends slap the surface while supporting her human torso. She looks over Angela like an exotic animal. Her stomach clenches when another black tendril wraps around her waist, tugging her a little further into the water.

“Genji’s scent is all over you.” One of her hands reaches out, picking up a lock of her hair while Angela does her best to contain the fear growing in her stomach. A mole by her right eye marks her skin, and her irises gleam a strange purple-blue. She lets go of her hair, musing to herself out loud.

“I never took him as one for keeping pets.”

She swallows before testing her tongue. “If you kill me, Genji will know.”

A knowing smile tugs her lips as she taps a clawed finger against the tip of Angela’s nose.

“Who said I wanted to kill you?” Her rhetorical question doesn’t sit well within her as she tries to pull back, but the creature’s grip only tightens. “I was hoping to make a new friend.”

“Friend?” She asks carefully, feeling the slight pull of her strange limbs dragging her closer to the creature.

“That's right; Genji’s my friend. I let him use my river and he lets me use his land. Friends help each other.” She looms inches from her face, pulling back her lips to reveal needle sharp points and a pair of small, needle like fangs. Angela’s breath stalls in her throat, but she doesn’t lean away from her display.

“Sombra, let her go.”

Angela turns her head, finding Genji as faith blooms in between her ribs. He stands tense on his tail, nearly double the height she’s ever seen him with his sword drawn. The leather straps against his skin strain at his intense posture. He’s close to the water’s edge, but not enough to reach out and touch her.

His bared teeth reveals glimpses of his fangs, eyes hard in anger. His tail curls underneath him, bunched and tightened with spring like reflexes. A predator, ready to kill, and baring it all in his features.  

Turning back to look at the creature’s grasp she remains in, the half woman and half beast straightens in the river, throwing an easy smile towards him.

"Is this the human you said I couldn't play with?" She asks without really needing the answer, taunting. Lifting a tentacle, the very end strokes Angela's cheek, making her flinch away from the slimy smooth texture at the monster's amusement. 

“I will not repeat myself again, let her go.” Barely contained rage rattles within his words as he shifts the sword in his grasp. His other hand grips the hilt of his smaller sword sheathed along his lower back. Without a doubt, he could throw it with precision.

If a fight begins, Genji won't be able to go into the water, that is the creature's domain. Angela knows he knows this as well. She digs her heels into the pebbly bed of the river, and braces herself. 

Instead the looming creature rolls her eyes. 

“Relax, Genji, I was only saying hello.” Sombra, as Genji addressed her, slowly unravels her tentacles from Angela’s body.

The moment the last of the slippery hold leaves her limbs, she splashes backwards through the water to get to her feet and scramble to the grass. Wet cloths weight down her shaking limbs until Genji grabs her hand and moves between her and the water in one swift movement. Her heart still pounds as she presses her hand to his back to steady herself. Warm skin fights against the cool of the river and the alien texture of the creature's tentacles that still haunt her limbs. 

The olive skin woman looks around Genji to stare at Angela, her smile unburden. “She doesn’t scare easy.”

“If you drag _my_ human into the river again, I will cut your head off from your shoulders.” Genji doesn't tremble, but his body holds back rare energy that she has never seen in action. As taunt and strong as he stands, he lowers his sword and moves his serpentine body to wrap loosely around Angela's legs, giving her a wall of comfort. Still facing Sombra, she only looks more amused at his threat and the human behind him.

“You should feel lucky that it was I who found her.” Sombra moves closer to the water line, tentacles acting as her support when she presses her hands into the dirt and presents herself without a care. Only moments ago she was threatened with a sword, but she doesn’t seem concerned about putting her neck over land. “Others won’t be as kind.”

Genji hisses, a sound that scraps at her eardrums but is aimed at Sombra. Her purple-blue eyes roll as if he's acting over dramatic before looking back to him.

“What’s your pet’s name?”

“Angela,” she speaks up, causing Genji to shift his arm to cross over her as she peeks out slightly from behind him. She doesn’t falter under the mesmerizing gaze of the water creature, holding steady as another amused smile tugs her lips.

“Angela,” she echoes, intrigued by Genji’s protective stance over her.

Flickering an uncomfortably sly gaze to Genji before once again focusing on her, the river creature bares her teeth. “I’m Sombra, and this is my river. Be careful around it, won’t you, human?”

She offers a small nod, earning another eerily delightful look from Sombra that switches over to Genji. Her tentacles writhe for a moment, shifting along the bank of the river. Bits of sand dot along the oil like shine, beautiful and unearthly all at once.

“I won’t kill your pet, Genji,” she speaks easily, turning her back and letting the water rise along her inky purple tendrils and to her torso, “But I wonder how long it will be until someone else does?”

Before Sombra is fully submerged, her skin wavers like air on a hot day, blending into the color of the water and seemingly disappearing.

A heavy pulse echoes in her ears, nearly drowning at all other sounds. Genji waits a moment to let his shoulders loosen and sheath his sword before turning to her. His hand takes her and he speaks curtly about getting away from the river. Her legs tremble as she walks with him, feeling eyes on her back as they climb the slope to his den.

His hands cup her face as soon as they are alone.

"Are you alright," his gaze moves over her arms and torso, searching for blood or wounds.

"I'm okay," she says breathlessly. "She didn't hurt me."

Her body shakes although her mind is clear, slight shock along with wet cloths aren’t helping either.

“I’m sorry, Angela,” he whispers, pressing his forehead against hers. He can’t seem to let go, or stop looking over her body checking for the smallest wounds. “She told me she wouldn’t be near the den until tomorrow. This… this was so foolish of me.”

She still counts her breaths, slowing her lungs while managing to lower her heart rate. Her skins shivers, but his warm presence helps settle her.

“Genji, I’m okay.” She reassures him while her own hands hold onto his wrists, trembling. Her skin crawls with the memory of eerie slippery flesh taking a hold of her limbs, but she stays within his touch.

It takes several moments, but they both settle down. She strips of her wet garments and dons her cloak until they can be dried. He shadows her steps as she warms her blood, eventually heating her skin to a normal temperature before resting on the floor of the den. He apologizes again, and before she can stop him he expands on the way he spoke about her to Sombra. As his human.

“I don’t mean to refer to you as an object.” He speaks quietly, clasping her hands between his. “But that’s the only way to get Sombra to understand that you are not something she can take.”

This tugs at her curiosity, making her brow furrow as Genji can’t seem to stop moving. He’s angry, twitchy his tail in different ways around her but holding her hands like an anchor. Still full of rage and fear at what happened, at what could have happened.

“She called me your pet,” Angela recalls, “Are humans so below the creatures of the mountain?”

He lifts his gaze, touching her hair for a tender moment.

“Humans are food at worst, and challenges and entertainment at best. They so rarely appear though, they’re almost a novelty.”

The way he speaks about humans, as if she doesn’t belong in that category, is almost soft. Upon their first meeting, he toyed with her, until she made herself appear as a being of intellect and choice. She broke his presumption of humans only being prey.

If Genji can learn to see humans, albeit one human, differently, couldn’t she get Sombra to do the same?

“I want to go back to the river tomorrow.”

He stills, even his scales stops in their angry movement as he looks at her, brow furrowed in hard confusion.

“What?”

 

*

 

He tries to dissuade her all night, but she dresses in her now dried cloths and grabs her staff. Genji firmly believes Sombra would rather drown her then have a simple conversation but Angela is determined. He even tries to throw her off her set course with kisses and softly calling her his flower, but she doesn’t fall for his seduction.

She wants to speak to the creature of the river.

It flows quietly in the morning sun rays, and Genji at least keeps his sword sheathed albeit his hand is wrapped around the hilt at his waist. She calls for Sombra, watching the air shimmering before she appears in front of them, tentacles curiously moving through the lazy water at their appearance.

Sombra doesn’t speak to her directly, rather asking Genji the meaning of this in which Angela responds herself. It’s amusing to her, which only presses Angela’s determination harder in her chest. She still stands out of reach of Sombra’s strange limbs, but Genji barely contains himself to not place himself between her and the river creature. Sombra points that out with a sly grin, laughing at the hisses rising in Genji’s chest.

The next few days, Angela slowly gains Sombra’s attention. She finds her questions entertaining, about her ability to blend into the background, about how she can travel on land but only for a short time. Her fangs carry venom as well but it’s different from Genji’s. It’s a toxic that puts her prey to sleep, not even drowning in the water will awaken them.

Genji is tense, but he slowly loosens his fighting stance around Sombra. In the evenings after their talks with Sombra, he’ll complain that she has a destructive tendency to find things that can kill her. Angela acknowledges that he doesn’t like her talking with Sombra, but she always defends with him being her own evidence at swaying creatures into being friendly.

He’s grouchy, and clingy. He holds her tightly but it’s not without her want. She holds him too, easing his worries before they once again go to the river.

She takes fruit in her arms on day, catching Sombra’s attention immediately. Like Genji, she'll snack on the sweets of the mountain but her primary diet is fish. Her carefully held claws take the red fruit from Angela, and she receives her first polite thank you. At that, she has enough courage to sit at the river’s edge, bare feet wiggling in the sand in inches of water as Genji lies in the grass. He never fully closes his eyes, always watching Sombra’s movement as she begins treating Angela with a reluctant kind of respect.

“Human—Angela, can I touch your hair?” She asks, throwing a sly smile to the glare that is already radiating from Genji. 

“Yes,” she answers, feeling nearly accomplished in her goal of befriending the powerful river creature.

Her tentacles move underneath her like a wave, an aquatic plant whom’s leaves flow in the water’s current. It is mesmerizing that she joins her on the bank, Angela takes note of the oil like flesh compared to the natural dark skin of her torso.

Sombra’s claws are careful as she tugs at the blonde strands, muttering that she doesn’t get to play with humans enough. By keeping still for her, Angela can’t see Genji, but she can feel his tension through the air.

“Tell Genji to relax, won’t you?” Sombra asks, still playing with her hair, but she can picture with ease her sly smirk.

Angela turns to look at him lying in the grass with his head propped up. The hard fierceness radiating from him aimed at Sombra is almost tangible, but it stripes away at her stare, revealing the worrisome nature in his eyes. As strong as he is, his heart still trembles at the thought of her in danger. It warms her chest, but she lightens her gaze upon him.

“It’s okay, Genji,” she speaks softly, reassuring him while Sombra tugs at her hair impatiently. "We're friends."

Sombra is silent before giving a slow, careful nod that isn't taunting or threatening just for Genji. It's for Angela. 

One last glare touches over Sombra’s back before he breathes slowly. Letting the hard features slowly slip from him, he lets her words soften the tension in his body as she turns back to let Sombra properly play with her hair. She is out of the water and within his easy grasp, Sombra is not foolish enough to try anything, and Angela smiles to herself.

Just days ago, this same creature was ready to drown her. 

When the dying light decides that their time is up, Sombra slips back into the water, watching with a glint in her eyes at how Genji's hand takes Angela’s. She has stop calling her Genji’s pet, and by now it must be clear to her what they are. Still, she only taunts Genji to get a reaction out of him.

Once in the den, Angela’s conviction of being able to befriend the river creature is secure. She talks into his chest about her success, and asides from his dismay, Genji grudgingly agrees that she is the only human who could make Sombra not want to drown her. He doesn’t enjoy the thought of her being so close to another creature, but Sombra isn’t going to drown her anytime soon.

Her reassurance is pressed to his lips until he believes her.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot!


	6. Abandoned

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela and Genji go searching for fruit but find something else, also Angela gets really embarrassed.

_**AUTUMN** _

 

The falling leaves begin to let in a brisk wind. As Angela sorts out her supply and gathers the last of the flowers that haven’t wilted, Genji takes her to the last few places that could offer her healing agents. They travel for half a day to a small forest of dark trees with blossoms that prove difficult for Genji to move through with his large mass of a tail.

She finds fruits that smell like citrus, but seem to only function as a food when they stumble across ancient architecture deep within the small forest. A stone archway and marbled floors begin giving way to nature. Hidden between the tall trees, the decaying building stands in a dark shadow of what was once a grand temple. She steps through the threshold, mesmerized by the strangeness of human impact in a place where there are none. Standing on stone, strange energy fills her at the presence of the broken temple.

“Angela, wait,” Genji calls, standing still in front of the stone archway but not moving under it. His gaze flickers nervously over the area as she stands several feet within the ancient building, looking back to him.

“I can’t go in there.” His tense tone raises her own worry. “A powerful energy keeps creatures like me from touching its ground.”

Her lips part at the information, feeling the odd energy radiating from the entryway and into her skin. Still, it doesn’t feel malevolent, only old and powerful.

“Why?” She asks, watching him shift in unease while watching her under the archway.

"I don’t know.” He clearly doesn’t like that.

“You can’t come with me inside?” She asks, debating on the balls of her feet as he confirms this. The worn building looks ready to fall apart, but there is more space instead that touches her curiosity.

“What was this place?” She questions as her fingers brush against mold covered stone and dust.

“I don’t know,” he answers, agitated at being clueless and forced to wait outside the threshold, “It was here long before me.”

She looks back to the arching top, caved in with vines and fallen orange leaves. What kind of force can keep creatures as powerful as Genji out, but allow humans inside?

“I’ll be gone for only a few moments.” She decides, returning to kiss his lips before turning back to the forgotten temple. He catches her hand before she can cross the threshold, pressing his lips to her knuckles.

"Hurry, my flower," he requests as he lets her hand go with tight worry surrounding his eyes. 

She steps over a fallen pillar, and enters the temple.

The silence crawls at her skin, and the buried stone being taken back by the earth is haunting. Through the threshold, a tangle of vegetation covers a wooden bridge to an open space. She tests her weight against it, hoping it hasn’t rotted to the point of disuse, but she makes it across without incident.

The center of the temple holds a large floor, surrounded by a lower ground with stairs that are hidden by plants. The ceiling extends high overhead, as a sort of overlook rests on one side of the wall. Against the farthest wall lies a flat pillar which drapes down a strange, large sheet. As Angela walks across the large space, carefully of vines and cracks in the ground, her eyes take the sheet as a yellowed painting.

For whatever the reason, being the strange energy in this place or nature unable to reach the painting, it is untouched by vines. It is twice her height, and the stained images are almost impossible to make out. Lines create two serpentine bodies with legs and large heads displaying open maws. Blue and green decorates the separate bodies.

Dragons.

Edging closer into the room, the scales on the green dragon mimics the pattern of Genji’s. Her hand hovers over it, but doesn’t dare touch the ancient painting. The energy within the walls seem to flow into her skin, making her spine shiver with uncertainty. 

What was this place? How could humans have ever competed against the creatures upon the mountain, much less live here? Where are its people, why leave behind this painting?

She wants to understand, but the grassy stones and silence only observe her questions.

Lowering her staff, she kneels on the ground and takes out her book. She opens it to the last few blank pages that aren't decorated with sketches of Genji. Pressing charcoal into her fingers, she copies the painting onto the white sheet. It is nothing compared to the original, but the two twirling dragons now appear to be fighting in her art then on the large canvas upon the wall.

Her finger taps against the sketch of the green dragon, unable to not compare the similarities between it and Genji’s emerald colored tail. A strange sense of fear and protectiveness rushes over her, spilling through her insides like black ink.  

She looks up, surveying the canvas just to notice a tear in the painting. A smooth slash that curves upwards but only cuts through half of the canvas. Dark red stains surround the tear, bringing her curiosity to wonder what the substance is.

What was this place?

She turns one last time to survey the temple. The strangeness of it all burns into her memory as she puts her back to the large painting, leaving the tangible energy and abandoned temple behind.

Angela returns to Genji, watching his shoulders loosen with relief at her hair in the sunlight. She greets him with the book, showing him her simpler sketch of the painting within.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” his hand touches one of the dragons, the one whose scales are like his but she didn’t tell him about the colors. His brow furrows, before looking back to the temple with hard unease. More unease shifts through her, but she holds her tongue. 

The canvas is new to him, and the dragons hold no meaning. Disappointed, she takes it back to look over it once more. Tonight she can study it more, but Genji insists that they take their leave. His dislike of the place is enough for her to leave it in the shadows of the trees. 

 

*

 

They come back to the meadow with only fruit and a vague question imprinted in her brain. The fruit tastes delicious but it isn’t comparable to the simple sketch of the canvas resting in her bag. The short day already bleeds to an end, and the bitter autumn wind sweeps through the dying grass. They retire into the den where the wind only echoes quietly. Genji’s body is what keeps her warm throughout the night, surprising her when she finds out he doesn’t get cold easily.

His chin rests on her shoulder, lazily following her fingers tracing the painting from the ruin temple in the book. Quiet breaths move in the flickering candlelight. She studies it, unaware of his hand moving until it flips the page over. It one second, her sketches of Genji are blatantly in full view.

She slaps the book shut, bolting to her feet as she clutches it closely to her chest. Turning to face the focus of her scribbles, the suspicious smugness to his face already lights her cheeks to a burning red.

“Did you draw all of those?” He asks the question while knowing full well the answer. His tone drips in honey that threatens to drown her.

“I didn’t draw anything, there’s—there’s nothing to see. Just meaningless scribbles.” She’s not looking at him, only vaguely catching the movement of shadows as he comes closer. Taking a step back but only ending up with the cave wall pressing against her spine, she’s utterly trapped in her embarrassment. 

“My flower,” he coos, absolutely delighting in her panic. “You should at least show the person you’ve drawn your art.”

“It’s not art,” she states to his unconvinced face. “It’s nothing, Genji.”

A tormenting smile breaks out across his face, taking in her state.

“Why are you so scared?” He questions, amused and in disbelief all at once. “Are you not the same human who wanted to befriend Sombra after she tried to drown you?”

She pouts her lips for a moment, making him laugh and causing more blood to flood her cheeks.

“This is different,” she mutters, losing the battle.

“Hmmm,” he hisses a soft hum. He gentle touches her hair and brushes it back from hiding her face. Barely able to lift her eyes to his, he presses close. Trailing his lips against her jawline by her throat, it reminisces of her first kiss upon him. Her muscles unwillingly loosen at his soft presence as she lets out a small sigh. 

“Please?” His breath tickles her ear, breaking her down as she lightens her hold on the book.

“Take it,” she gives up, figuring she can jump in the river with Sombra later.

He does. Giving her lips a soft kiss as thanks, he opens it back up to the last few pages decorated with his face in her messy sketches of charcoal. Viewing his expression with dread, his brow is smooth, and his eyes are absorbed in her drawings. She breaks away after a moment to look up at the ceiling, not able to stomach knowing what he thinks about them.

“Angela, is that how you see me?” His question pulls her away from her mortification, causing her brow to crinkle at his open expression.

In the time she’s know him, he has never appeared so unsure, so… vulnerable.  

“Excuse me?” She asks, softly.

“This art…” He can’t find words, trying to manage his tongue. “I’m not sure. You paint me as if I’m… not a monster?”

Her sketches have various degrees to them. One full page is just different angels of his face, other scribbles include his entire body, from his tail to all the way to his dark hair. Sometimes it’s just his human half, or the exact opposite. She could never make his tail as graceful as he actually holds it, and she usually gives up on those sketches. Her personal favorite sketches are when he's sunbathing, and his face is still as he curls lazily around her while she draws him. Those moments are when she catches his soft edges and bright emerald scales the best. 

“I… well, yes?” She’s not sure what his reacting is stemming from. If he hates them, she’ll gladly destroy them but he seems too soft at the moment. As if her messy sketches have worn through his thick muscles and strong scales.

She parts her lips to apologize, but he drops the book in favor of taking her in his hands. His kiss stalls any shame or fear as the end of his tail curls around one of her legs. A note of surprise moves in her throat but is caught between their fierce kiss. His lips move slowly, wanting to taste her for days but only finding this one second to do it. He speaks without breathing, he tells her with only touching his tongue to her teeth. Any fear, any hesitant is lost within his pulse and touch.

He is, without limit, without regret, entirely hers.

They part only to breath, and his hands still touch against her throat and cheeks, holding on as if she is glittering gold.

“Genji?” She asks, touching his chest as he looks to her. His gaze is the litter of stars above and the dark slopes leading down the hillside. The creature before her is letting his strength and invulnerable vanish against her fingertips. Entirely open, he bares his heart and she cares for it with careful, worn hands.

“Angela,” he breathes, still as the night, “You are my love.”

The word trails slowly through her veins, finding its place in her heart. Her lips morph into happiness as she rubs her thumb along his cheekbone.

“As you are mine.” Her own truth.

Her whispers only leaves her lips for a moment before they are occupied again. Lost in each other’s heat but found against each other’s skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥
> 
> Also, my tumblr is ribbons-halos.tumblr.com if you wanna stop by and say hi!


	7. Human Design

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's raining...

Rain drizzles quietly one day, confiding them to the den but Angela gets restless, and watches the rain pour down from the entrance of the den. Genji lies in her lap, watching the water droplets while keeping her legs warm.

He lets out a soft sigh as she twirls her fingers through his hair, leaning against the rock wall for support.

“I heard humans can dance.”

She looks down to him at the sudden comment, but he still only watches the rain.

“Don’t you know how to dance?” She asks softly, already envisioning his gracefully body turning in beautiful movements.

“No, that’s a human thing,” he smirks, looking up to her, and she blinks.

“Oh, Genji, I’m the worst human that could possible show you what dancing is.” In her honest truth, she has never danced before. There were weddings and celebrations that entertained it but she hardly went to such festivities, much less partake in the swaying of feet and legs.

“I don’t believe you,” his smirk only grows, making her exasperate.

“Says the one who claims he can’t dance either.” She promptly points out.

“That’s different,” he waves a hand, dismissing the notion with frustrating ease. “Humans have legs, and yours are quite lovely, might I add.”

A laugh bubbles softly in her chest at that, but he is sincere in his words. The serpentine like monster having a weakness for her legs is still an interesting thing. His touch will travel down from her thighs to her ankles, speaking about how soft she is. No one has ever made her feel as lovely as he has.

Having legs is an advantage she takes every so often. If he is being obnoxious she’ll simply lift one leg in the air, using the cave wall as support as his sentence stumbles off unfinished while his eyes flicker down the length of her thigh.

“Are you seducing me?” He had asked, suspiciously looking at her relaxed but still stretched out form.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she had innocently pledged, shifting to hook her knee up and lean against the wall. Calm but holding her own smirk at the deliciously refreshing sight of Genji fighting his own flustered state.

 The rain brings her back, and she thinks for a moment. It is a giddy burst of energy, but she gets to her feet as Genji slides off her lap.

“Angela?” He asks, watching her curiously as she takes off her cloak and drapes it in the cave beside her supplies.

“I know you can dance,” she says, taking his hand but turning her back to the rain. Slowly stepping out into it, raindrops begin weighing down her hair as Genji intrigued gaze looks over her.

“Are you going to show me how to?” He slithers out into the open. It would be a bright midday but dark clouds choke away the light. Rain splatters against her cheeks and drops from her eyelashes, but she only feels excitement as Genji wanders with her outside the den.

“Here,” she stops, and turns to take both his hands. The rain makes his serpentine body slick and his strong chest wet as his hair because a sopping mess. She isn’t any better as her hair falls against her cheeks in wet strand.

She moves his arm, guiding it around her waist to rest on her hip. With the other, she laces her fingers through his and presses closely. He adjusts his grip, watching her with shining eyes in the dim rain.

“Now, follow me,” she murmurs between the raindrops.

She steps lightly to the side, swaying her hips slightly as he moves with her easily. His tail keeps up with her feet in the wet grass with ease, and he sways to her movements while holding carefully onto her waist. It’s graceful, watching him move like a ribbon through the rainy gloom, but she smiles. His eyes stare down at her human parts, where her toes step between blades of wet grass and her legs cross over each other to keep up the slow rhythm of their simple sway. 

“I knew it,” she praises as he lifts his hand from her fingers for one moment to brush her hair out of her eyes. Interest still presses into his brow, but he shows a smirk easily.

“Well, I just didn’t want to show off too much,” he speaks easily, making her snort at the thought of him being humble.

“You’re impossible,” she laughs, still swaying closely before stopping them in the grass.

Stepping back and out of his grasp, she holds onto one of his hands, raising their linked fingers. Twirling herself under his arm, she sweeps her arm out as the twirl finishes, flamboyant beside the ridiculousness of it all. His eyes rest only on her, lips parted in the rain as she laughs again, ducking her head as a slight rush of blood touches her cheeks when she presses closer to him.

“Okay, this is silly.” She wipes a few water drops off her face, still pink in the face besides the gray atmosphere. “Let’s go back inside before—”

Genji’s hand tightens on her, reeling her back after she stepped away. Moving with him, her feet stays miraculously flat as she presses against his chest. Caught in the trap of his smirk and bright eyes, he dips her low, supporting them both on his powerful tail.

“Genji!” She cries out, surprised and flustered and unable to look away from his lips. She grips him tightly, but has no worry of him letting her go. Dark clouds serve as the background to his open expression, and rain drips from his hair. 

“Your laughter is music, Angela,” he states softly, still holding her carefully in his arms.

He’s so handsome, even in the rain.

She springs upon him as he pulls them back upright, catching his mouth with her kiss. He steadies them both by wrapping his arms around her waist, but gives in to her wet teeth as the rain keeps falling onto their skin. 

Her skin shivers from more than just the chill of the rain. A giddy sensation keeps touching through her, pure ecstasy and bubbling laughter. She is sudden and soft and all too much from the creature she’s given herself up to entirely. Many things come from one little love, all soft and caring.

“My love,” she murmurs, parting to press her forehead against his. Water still stains her skin, but it doesn’t feel cold and unforgiving as she touches him.

He hums a soft hiss, rumbling content through her. She leans in for another kiss.

A lightning bolt strikes in the meadow as a thunderous boom nearly explodes in their eardrums. She shrieks at the noise, feeling her heart in her throat as Genji jumps with her in his arms, just as startled.

There is no debate as they run back to the den, throwing themselves inside when another flash of lightning cracks outside. It shakes the rock walls as they both stumble into a wet mess on the bedding.

Angela swears under her breath, still blinking away the imprint of lightning in her vision as Genji begins laughing.

“Heavens above,” she gasps, stunned as Genji’s enjoyment rumbles even more against her.

“That scared even me!” his words are cut off by his chuckles.

She looks to him, still catching her breath while unamused at his carefree expression. He settles himself enough to watch her wipe her face free of water droplets.

“Tell me you didn’t enjoy that, Angela,” he says, still shaking with laughter at their rudely interrupted kiss.

“I enjoyed our dancing, not getting nearly killed by a bolt of lightning.” She twists her hair to free water from its light texture.

He laughs again, filling her cool body with energy but only just easing off her bothered expression.

“I enjoy your dancing too,” he declares, stalling her with a light in his sepia irises. His emerald scales are slick with water, and rain droplets still cling to his skin but he is beaming. Curling his serpentine body on the bedding, he is nothing but content and joy, even while the storm rages just outside.

She shakes her head, but lets a smile touch her cheeks.

She rises to strip her wet clothes off and throw on her thankfully dry cloak. Genji takes a few minutes to dry his scales, but she laughs at his mess of a hair. In retaliation, he gently tugs her wet locks and pulls her against him. The day is too cold and wet, and he’s very warm and soft.

Lightning and thunder keep them company as he plays with her hair. The rain washes the mountain as they wait for it to pass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	8. Fog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela's double creature feature~

Autumn slowly spreads its chill, preparing for the snow that will blanket the mountain side. Angela is beyond prepared to return to the town with her pack of sacred roots and herbs, along with a finished book. The days are spent in what little sunlight remains and quick trips to fruit trees and groves of dying herbs.

Sombra is always in the river now, settling herself for the winter months that will freeze the water over and let her rest undisturbed. There is no fear when Angela retrieves water by herself, Sombra just wants to pet her hair. When Genji does accompany her, she taunts him by moving her tentacles close to Angela but never actually attempts to grab her. Still, his swords are always strapped to his chest.

One cool morning after the rain, fog fills the sloping mountainside. A thick soup of gray clouds prevents Angela from seeing more than a few feet in front of her, and moisture touches her skin when she steps into it just out of the den’s entrance.

“My flower, wait.” Genji comes to her side, slithering quietly with her flask in hand. “The fog can hide many things. Let’s go to the river and return to the den quickly.”

“How far can you see?” she asks as they start down the slope.

The strange atmosphere is fascinating, but when the fog swallows up the den and there is only grass under her feet, it quickly becomes unnerving. She strays closer to his side and he takes her hand with strong reassurance.

“Only as well as you,” he speaks but his focus is around them. “I have to listen for any creatures daring to cross my land under the cover of fog.”

He knows where they travel, and he carefully senses the air for any other bodies coming close. Monsters’ senses upon the mountain are greater than that of a human, but he is on edge. The fog is an ally to no one.  

The world is surrounded in gray matter. Even the sun is hidden, leaving a gloom that usually the pitter-patter of rain could lighten but this is almost suffocating. Genji is at her side, but she still throws glances into the ocean of white, wondering if she truly sees vague imprints of shadows or she is simply scaring herself.

The trickling of the river touches her ears before her eyes see it. Breaking through, the fog is almost heavier over the bank of the river as Angela fills the flask. Genji hovers close beside her, swiveling his head in multiple directions.

“Sombra is gone,” she notes, standing up with dripping hands and a full flask of water.

“She loves the fog,” he smirks at that, adjusting his serpentine body as they start back up the slope. “It’s the only time she’ll move on land, but even then she camouflages herself.”

“Where does she go?” She asks, keeping her voice low and the flask close. Slick grass makes her foot slip but Genji catches her elbow, effortlessly steadying her as she adjusts to the wet land.

“Usually down the mountain,” he watches her for a moment, making sure she won’t slip again. His touch lingers, warming her skin before looking through the fog once more.

They get past what she thinks is the meadow, and her thoughts only worry over the water creature. If other monsters are wandering through the fog, Sombra could be in danger.

“Can she defend herself on land?” she wonders with unease.

“If she’s directly attack, no; not unless she gets her fangs in them.” Genji says this with only a brief shrug, “but no one could ever defeat her in her waters. I even would have trouble taking her on in the river.”

“I hope she’s careful,” Angela murmurs. Still lost in the fog, Genji moves through it with ease, guiding her.

After a beat of silence, she feels his gaze upon her. Turning to catch his smirking lips and soft stare, she parts her lips.

“What?”

“You are such a strange human.” He laughs as she tightens her gaze. “You worry over Sombra and I like we are not monsters of the mountain.”

She scoffs, turning away to climb the slope and get a little height advantage over him.

“No, I worry over both of you because your and Sombra’s arrogance lets you two believe you are invincible.” She stops to face him, firm and unwavering at his relaxed expression. “I worry about you, especially.”

His strength and power is not hidden to her, and his boasts of fighting off many other creatures are true, but she’s traced the faint scars dotting his skin and scales. There is fear at what created those, and what could draw Genji’s blood.

“Angela,” he says with ease, “I haven’t won this land and stayed alive this long because I can’t fight. Your worry is over nothing!”

She crosses her arms over the flask, hugging it to her chest as she holds firm.

“My worry is _for_ someone.” Her gaze holds steady over him, and his smirk fades to something softer.

He moves close, pressing his lips to her nose in a soft peck. It loosens her muscles, and lets her breathe softly in the white fog surrounding them.

“I know, my love.” He breathes against her cheek, before touching her hair in a soft motion. “But I promise you there is no need to fear. I’m—”

He straightens in the fog, head snapping to the right. Green scales suddenly coil tightly, mirroring his sharp reaction. She stills as his hands take her shoulders, tensing while she looks to where he stares at.

A dark figure is barely silhouetted in the gray clouds, large and only human from the waist up. A strange mass underneath the human torso appears low and heavy, with a curving tail that hangs over the large body. A sharp tip hangs off the tail, promising a lethal use. 

The monster moves right towards them. 

“Lie down,” he hisses, letting her go to slither between her and the creature in the fog.

Quickly dropping to the grass, Angela curls up while pressing her body as flat as possible to the ground. In moments, Genji’s serpentine body surrounds her, a strong wall of emeralds that she places one hand against. He is warm, and his scales move at her touch as a faint ring of metal echoes in the fog. She breathes quietly while clutching the flask to her chest, praying that Genji won’t have to use his sword.

This hiding place is only good from a distance, and she barely sees Genji’s tense backside as she looks up into the dim clouds. If a creature comes close enough, they’ll see over his tail and find her. The wall of green shifts as Genji does, doing his best to keep his torso between what is in the fog and Angela.

“Genji,” a voice breaks through the hazy atmosphere, feminine. The speaker is both startled and on guard, but her one word holds a distinct proper tone. As if prim and not monstrous.

“Satya,” he greets with a level voice, but it comes with a harsh hiss.

“I am only passing through.” The voice speaks firmly, but still holds elegant. “I do not seek a brawl, much less with you.”

“Then move quickly,” he is sharp, tensing his scales around Angela as she tries to slow her lungs. “I don’t want others getting the impression they can simply come upon my land.”

A strange sort of scuttle sound echoes, as if an insect moves in the grass. For one brief moment, she catches the end of a sharp tail—a stinger. Covered in white, almost armor like plates as it arches in the air, the piercing end screams deadliness. Her fingers tense against Genji’s scales as he moves his back between the view of the creature and her. He is tense, and ready to fight.

“Of course,” the creature agrees as the voice sounds in a different direction. “Although the fog may be deceiving me, I am sure that I smell human here, Genji.”

His serpentine body tightens around her, and she wonders if she must get ready to run.

“There was one, but I killed it just yesterday, in the rain.” His lie is smooth, effortless. There is no reason for these monsters to suspect that Genji would care for a human, much less hide one.

For one brief moment, she envisions the stinger piercing through his body, and stops a shudder from trembling through her limbs.

The creature breathes out quietly, as if sighing in vexation.

“I see, I will take my leave then.”

He lets loose a hiss as the scuttling sound fades away in the fog. Genji still tenses around her and she holds still as emeralds hold as her wall. For one minute, they keep like this until his serpentine body slowly unravels, revealing the thick fog and his heavy brow.

“Angela,” he murmurs, holding his hand out as to help her to her feet. “Let’s hurry.”

She squeezes his fingers for one comforting moment, earning a softer look as they set back up the slope.

He holds his sword in one hand as they move quickly. Silence surrounds them as Genji keeps focusing through the fog and hovers over her. Angela can only imagine what such a monster looks like in whole. Her flesh crawls at the thought of the large stinger coated in white.

The den comes into view when they are only five steps away. Letting herself breathe easily, they duck inside, and Genji finally sheaths his sword.

“Are you alright?” He asks, once the cave offers them shelter.

“Yes,” she breathes as he still holds tense. The fog is heavy, but it still holds a strange beauty once she is no longer in it. Genji is without injury, and even as she goes over him to make sure, her chest holds heavy at the thought.

“Who was that?” she asks as they pull back further into the den. The bedding cushions their bodies as they settle down, and Genji’s eyes still glint sharply at the den’s entrance.

“Satya,” he says with a hiss. “She rarely ventures from her own territory. She would rather avoid confrontations but she can fight if she wishes to. I could handle her with ease.”

Angela swallows roughly at that, not wanting him to ever have to confront that monster. Scooting across the floor, her hand to his cheek brings a less battle ready expression to his eyes.

“It’s okay, Genji.” Even as she says this, the deadly stringer rolls through her mind and makes chills touch through her spine. Gratitude moves through her that Satya is more peaceful than most creatures, and that Genji did not have to fend off against such a monster.

“The fog will leave eventually,” he mutters, still hot and full of energy, “but so many use it to their advantage. I don’t like creatures getting so close here, getting so close to you.”

Her thumb rubs against his cheekbone, slowly bringing him down from his rigid posture and letting his serpentine body uncoil. Her heart still pounds, but it is slowing down. As long as they stay close, nothing will harm the other. Faith still flows through her veins.

“We’ll wait it out, then,” she says, holding his gaze until he breathes out slowly.

He lightens enough that he finally moves at her hands. Lying down in her lap, his tail sprawls out across the den floor as he holds against her. His fingers move across the length of her leg, warming her skin as she runs her hands through his hair.

She worries. He does not see what his arrogance puts aside. He is in just as much danger as she is, but he has no thoughts of himself while guarding her. It twists her stomach of the thought that she’ll have to watch him fight off a great creature like himself, only to see his blood and bones.

He is strong. She knows this, and trusts in both their abilities but he does not worry.

She worries for both of them.

 

*

 

Angela wakes to an empty space. Only one candle flickers, but darkness still seeps into the den. There is almost no light from the night time air and fog. Genji is gone, and her shivering muscles make her aware of the lost heat.

Genji has only left the den in the dead of night to retrieve water or wool for her. Always he had let her know before he disappeared, but now as she pulls straw from her hair, she finds his leather sheaths still hanging on the wall.

His large sword is missing.

She stands, moving through the dim light to the mouth of the cave but stops when she hears someone speaking. A woman is hissing, but it’s not a voice she recognizes.

“You mistake me for a fool, I can smell human all over you.” She pulls her vowels through alluring cords all while curling them in a harsh tone, threatening. Whoever this is, it is not Satya.

“Any human that wanders here is mine, and if you attempt to hunt here I will kill you. Now leave.” Genji’s own voice hisses, just as hostile.

There’s odd movement sounding in the grass. She recognizes Genji’s noises, but a strange, puncturing thump hits into the dirt. As if large stakes are being stabbed into the ground. Fear grasps her heart as she holds her breath.

“Have you let yourself go soft, Genji?” An insult in a feminine voice.

“Why don’t we find out?” His challenge.

Her hand tightens against her chest, straining to hear any sound but only tense silence falls. A minute passes by, making her question Genji’s safety until it breaks with a humorless laugh.

“I’m not hungry, Genji, but you smell delicious.” The alluring words create magma in Angela’s heart, boiling at the deadly flirtation aimed at Genji. “You shouldn’t tempt me into eating you.”

“Did you forget how our last encounter ended, Amélie?” He is steady as he speaks this, haughty.

A hiss rises at that, but not his own.

“Good, because I don’t think you could stand to lose another leg to my blade,” Genji says, pausing for just one moment.

She can picture with ease his smirk as he adds, “Literally.”

A sharp, festering hisses arises, prompting Angela to almost look out of the den but another hiss quickly follows after. The familiar sound reassures her. The strange, puncturing sounds hit the ground before slowly fades away.

Angela holds her breath. Silence only follows the haunting tracks she can’t place. Genji doesn’t make a sound, and she decides that if in five minutes she doesn’t hear him, she will go look for him.

During the months she has lived upon the mountainside with Genji, she has never encounter any other creatures aside from Sombra. A few times Genji has returned to her, warning about staying away from the dark forest or the east side. Yet, in only two days of fog, two new creatures have stepped upon Genji's land. 

It is more dangerous than she thought. 

He comes inside just as she counts past two minutes.

A scowl pulls at his features as his tense posture slithers into the room. The blade of his sword gleams for one moment before his eyes come to rest on her, surprised.

“Angela,” he breathes, letting his knuckles loosen from the hilt of the sword.

“You were gone,” she says, moving towards him with silent steps. “I heard you talking to someone.”

His shoulders drop as she touches his free hand. Anxiety is set on the skin of his brow, seemingly ingrained into him.

“I hoped you wouldn’t wake,” he murmurs, taking her hand and pressing it to his lips. His lungs move slowly, calming the magma in her chest.

“Genji,” she asks carefully, touching his face. “Who was that?”

A sigh moves through him, and he pulls away only to set his sword back in its sheath. She waits until he tugs her back to the bedding, nestling down to where they both look to each other across the floor of the cave.

“Amélie.” He speaks as he smooths her hair down, picking a few pieces of straw from her blonde hair. “She is a powerful creature. Her prey is other monsters, and will track down a human scent for days if it means finding one.”

He’s keeping his composure, but his tail is tense across the ground along with his jaw, as if flexing his hidden fangs.

“The fog… I was careless, I didn’t sense her in the area until she was nearly upon the den.” He nearly spits the words but keeps his voice level for her sake. “If she was any closer, she would have found you.”

“Hey,” she murmurs, touching through his cheek for a moment. “I’m right here. It’s okay.”

Her words offer a little comfort as he wraps his arms around her. His apology is softly spoken against her throat for a moment, before he pulls back to once again hold her gaze.

“If you ever see her, you must run, Angela. She will not hesitate to kill a human.” There’s no give in his words, and fear rarely blooms in his eyes, but she knows when to heed warnings. Her reassurance settles him for only a moment, before his tail flickers harshly. Still, she speaks softly until he calms, not wanting him to feel so suspended in agitation.

“I should have killed her the first time we battled.” He speaks lowly, certain. “She tried to hunt me.”

The cooling lava in her rib cage reheats to boiling magma. Rage and fear touch through her bones, and Genji immediately feels her harsh breath and hard muscles.

“Amélie is without a leg now but that was to serve as a reminder to never challenge me again.” His reassurance is quick, almost instantly letting his frustrations go in concern over her.

She pulls away, brow narrowed as she sits up. Mirroring her, Genji’s touch ghosts over her jawline, but his warmth is a candle compared to the magma in her veins. Echoes of Amélie’s alluring voice still moves the lava inside her, making her want to hide him away from anything that could take him.

“I’ll protect you, Angela. There is no need to fear—”

“Genji, I’m not worried about myself!” She nearly cries out, angry. He stills as her heated gaze turns upon him. Sepia irises take in her shimmering skin and red hot tongue before breathing out slowly.

“My flower.” His voice is soft, but she holds the heart of a volcano. “No one can take this from us.”

His hands take hers, moving until their fingers lace. Bridged together, she lets his own touch cool the magma dripping in her heart. She parts her lips, swallowing heavily against the emotion in her throat before she touches her mouth to his. He greets her slowly, a chaste kiss that lets lava turn to land.

“No one,” she agrees.  

 

*

 

When the first cold wind makes her shiver in the meadow, she kisses his palm.

“I can’t stay here during the winter, Genji.” She simply won’t be able to survive in its conditions. This is not her home.         

“I know.” His fingers squeeze her hands.

He sleeps during the cold months where snow overtakes the mountain. Bunking down in his den until the river unfreezes and the wild grass brings back prey, he will remain inactive.

Her staff stands with her at the first path leading down the mountain side. Their journey left her reminiscing over the months that have change her life entirely. In her hand is his warmth as his last tender words echo in her eardrums. She even said a goodbye to Sombra, who bid her farewell with a kind, ‘I hope you don’t die before spring’.

“I’ll be back when the last snow melts.” Her promise as they embrace.

“Be safe, my flower.”

Soft and pressing, they hold together until they both forget that they have to part. She carries his kiss with her as her hood hides her hair and her staff guides her steps. Refusing to look back and make her heart ache more, she carries precious things with her down the mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥
> 
> I hope everyone had a great holiday/weekend! Also, at this point I'm wondering how many girl monsters I can get in here :D


	9. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela helps sickly souls through the cold months, and meets an old friend.

**_WINTER_**  

 

Her house seems foreign now. Stone walls and wooden fences are not the sloping grass or the river moving quietly by. It takes a day to shove the dust off cold furniture and meet her first patient.

Many don’t believe her return until they come to her door themselves, deeming her long dead after she disappeared up the mountain. When they ask, she tells them a story she spun on her walk down the slopes. For what the people know, she didn’t go to the mountain at all. Veering off path at the threat of monsters, she decided to travel to a wise man in a far city whose healing arts were taught to her as medicine was given for her own use.

She doesn’t want anyone getting the notion to test themselves upon the mountain, only to be killed by a powerful creature.

The first sick child comes to her when snowflakes begin blanketing the ground. He is suffering close to death, but her sacred medicine works to revive him. The parents are in awe at the roots and strange plants, but they are grateful for her work.

Her hands come alive when moving for others. Steady and strong, months upon the mountain writing and digging roots haven’t marred her work. The lives she touches are precious and irreplaceable. Babies and children from aging mothers and sickly fathers all come to her threshold, asking for help.

Illness does not care for the rich or the poor. It takes whatever soul it can grasp. Diseases rake through the town, and Angela creates concoctions that are bitter on tongues but aiding to the body. More children play in the snow, more families are whole thanks to the miracles laced in flower petals.

She did not prepare for winter, nor the cold, but they pay her in clothes and food. Spices fill her shelves and wood is stacked at the back of her simple house in thanks for nursing an infant back to life. A fire never dies in her stove, lighting her blood with what she remembers most about her role.   

Her fingers are steady, built for healing, but she still goes back to when they were laced with strong hands.

In the dead of winter, she takes on an apprentice. Lúcio is intelligent, and kind. He learns quickly, and begins memorizing her handwriting in the book. The sketches are a pale comparison to the true nature of flowers and herbs that help heal, but he is able to distinguish between the names of all too similar roots.

The few pages containing Genji’s face are already separated from the book. Tucked carefully away, she looks to them before she falls asleep. The snow still falls, and winter never seems to hold an end as she dreams of spring and emeralds.

A young woman begins to help them distribute glasses of medicine to those who can’t reach her house. Hana is swift upon a horse, even in the dead set of blizzards and lightning storms. She has yet to fail a soul needing their aid in a far off home.

Both stay under her roof, reaping all the benefits. Sometimes at night, she’ll hear them conversing and moving to each other’s room. Hushed whispers and quiet feet makes her smile softly against her pillow. They are both young, and they don’t let whatever is blooming between them affect their work.

Hana will recount tales upon the mountain when they are hunched over a thin bowl of soup on a lazy, cold day. The horrors and monsters waiting there can kill any man. She pulls faces, baring her teeth as if holding fangs and causes Lúcio to laugh into his food. This brings up his question, however, and Angela answers it as she always have.

She didn’t go upon the mountain, even after all the plans she made.

He and Hana marvel at her collection of flowers and crushed herbs, mulling over how she came across such an abundance in her travels. It took from spring to autumn to gather it all, she tells them. Every good thing takes time, especially healing.

It is a good winter, and the healing agents she gathered eases so many lives. She teaches Lúcio about the contents of her book, over and over, making sure he has the information in his heart. He never falls short, proving himself more than capable of healing.

In snowstorms, she schemes about next spring. Her supplies are not enough, especially when her pack would only let her carry so much. She’ll need to make more trips this summer, but she doesn’t wish to leave the mountain.

As the snow begins to lighten, she confesses to Lúcio the truth. The mountain is full of creatures, and she spent her time learning all she could, gathering all the plants her pack could hold.

For the first time in three months, she says Genji’s name out loud.

He is silent at first, astonishment colors his face. It sounds impossible even in her own words, but he looks to her, asking why she shares this.

If he will stay here, through spring and autumn, to help the town, she will give him all the supplies to do so. Her faith is unwavering in his abilities to heal and care for. Hana, if she agrees to, will travel the mountain path but not venture onto the actual grounds to retrieve the herbs and flowers. Angela will be copying another book of information, so the one currently resting in her house is his.

It takes him a day to agree, but she shares her deepest gratitude. He convinces Hana to help them, and after the rush of questions and disbelief, she agrees too.

They both gawk over her drawings of Genji, and it feels almost as if they touch her own soul when they trace his mighty serpentine body on the paper. Hana is the one who ask how she came to love such a monster.

“He is arrogant and strong,” she says, “but he is also soft and kind.”

Lúcio’s and Hana’s eyes still share disbelief at the wise doctor falling for a monster on the mountain. It doesn’t surprise her, but they don’t have to understand. They are still willing to help her.

Long, cold months have dragged on but spring is near. Snow still burdens the roof and blankets the stone paths leading to the center of town. Angela keeps her hood on as her breath touches snowflakes. She just helped a young woman give birth, and the couple now care for their healthy baby.

She is almost to the edge of town and on the path that traces back to her house when someone calls her name.

“Angela?” A voice drawls, bringing memories of too many orphans and tiny tears shared under a woolly blanket.

She turns on her heels, lips parting as she watches a red serape and a snow covered hat dash through the quiet street and straight to her.

"Jesse!” She cries, nearly not believing the rugged features and beard to be the same boyish face that teased her as a child. “What are you doing here?”

They embrace with the wild energy of teenagers. Angela only pulls back to make sure he is truly here as he grins in awe.

“Angela, I was told ya were dead!” He breathes a hot breath of relief and worry in the snow.

“Dead?” She questions, tugging at his arm as to lead him out of the cold and to her house.

“I came here during the summer months, hoping to find ya but some folks told me ya went up the mountain like a stubborn fool.” He drawls, hot and bothered now that she’s walking at his side. “Thought ya were killed by some monster.”

“Jesse,” she exhales, still rolling her eyes at the people whose eyes widen like they saw a ghost when she first came back to town. “I never went up the mountain.”

Her lies about traveling far away are told easily to the boy she grew up with in her later teens. When a family both took them in, they were considered children but worked like adults. A few years passed before Angela escaped to school and Jesse wandered off. During their time he would tease her with gross bugs and cuss when she bandaged up his bloody arm after fooling around. Some nights they’d talk about their dead parents and hide their sadness under a too small blanket.  

She never thought she would see him again. The boy she treated like a sibling is all grown up now.

Lúcio and Hana greet Jesse with excitement, listening to Angela introduce him as her own family. They eat with laughter and drinks that night, celebrating the reunion. When the younger souls leave them alone by the fire, Jesse swears upon his heart how he hardly recognized her all grown up.

He heard about a clever doctor staying in this town, and came during the summer months to see if it could possibly be the Angela he knew. When he was turned away by the theory of her death, he was shocked until snow brought the soft praises of a woman with strong medicine. He almost didn’t come back out of grief but he had to make sure.

It burdens her heart that he worried so, but it lightens with him just in her presence. When she presses him about his own adventures, he dodges them with vague answers about simple work wherever he can find it and moving on when it doesn’t work out. A gun gleams on his belt, glinting sharp metal.

She can always tell when he’s lying to her, but decides against demanding the truth when she herself isn’t so forward. Yet, her worry makes her wonder about the trouble he’s gotten into with that gun, and how he’s gotten out of it. 

Perhaps they are both living lives best left in secret.

True to his nature, he doesn’t sleep many nights in her house. Just as a warm sun begins baring down on the frozen ground, he disappears with a soft goodbye and a few of her remedies in his pocket. She worries, but holds faith that they’ll get to reunite one day and tell each other their truths.

Heat begins to set upon the snow. Her bones are restless, and the melting ice turns to rushing mud, but she still waits. The mountain is only a sheet of white, and until all the snow is gone around the town, it is not time yet. Lúcio and Hana tease her about being so anxious. It is a truth about her bouncing legs and flitting gaze to the mountain top, but she forces herself to settle down lest they call out her impatience once again.

One evening, after allowing a patient to return back to their home in good health, she hears birds chirping in the air. The snow is gone, and the mountain is a fading white.

The next morning, she bares a larger pack, and covers her hair with a hood before trusting Lúcio to heal those who need him. The young couple bid her a safe farewell as they inherit her book and house. The town is quickly forgotten in her footsteps, and her staff helps her scale the accelerating slope.

The day passes in a quiet warmth of the sun and the slight chill of spring. The end of the path is in her sights. Upon the mountain top, flowers are blooming.

 

**_SPRING_ **

 

The grass welcomes her with soft strokes against her legs. Rolling meadows and the small stream lead her back to the land she knows by heart. A familiar rocky hill makes her lungs breathe easier. Her staff digs into the hard stone, coming to the crest and overlooking the mountain side.

The meadow is growing, small, dainty blossoms are just spreading their petals to the sun. The cave protruding in the ground marks where Genji’s den lies to the east, and further down the slope glistens the crystal water of the river.

A serpentine emerald tail glistens in the morning sun, thick as a man and three times the length. It’s sprawled across the grass and resting in a slight curl around himself. Genji’s back is to her, detailed like a sculpture and wrapped in leather straps containing his swords. Dark hair with pale skin marks the soul she knows. He looks to the valley below, as if searching for her.

A creature of a dream. A body of scales and warmth that has held her during summer nights. Simple traces of his being on paper was never enough, but now he graces her sight like a vision. The breath of love and quiet hums echoes in her chest.

Her love.

Angela taps her staff against the stone, letting it ring with the ache of her heart at the long months without him. It echoes in the mountain air, catching his ears and allowing him to turn in her direction.

There are too many emotions crossing his features to place, but she feels the desperate want in his body as he moves to her. She descends down the rocky slope, entering the meadow with a propelling force calling her to him.

Dropping her staff and pack, she jerks her hood off. The sunshine touches her hair as she closes the space between her and Genji. His hissing hum touches her before his embrace does.

There is nothing that could pry her finger from gripping his hair, or tightening her arms around his shoulders as if she can only hold onto him now. He catches her, strong arms wrapping around her waist as her legs straddle his lower half. Every piece of her being wants to touch him, to feel what was lost in the cold.

There are places ingrained into a soul. The textures and lights of it bleed into safety and reassurance. Only rest and comfort wait when entering.

Home, in his arms.

“Angela,” he says, her name beautiful on his tongue. “Angela.”

He lowers them carefully into the grass; her back lies against the meadow as he hooks one of her legs against him. Strong fingers trail her cheekbones, brushing her hair and pressing his lips to her skin. She speak his name like a breath of air, pressing her mouth to the corner of his and feeling along the familiar shape of his defined collarbones.

“My flower,” he breathes letting her hands run over his bare skin, hooking under leather straps to make goosebumps rise on pale flesh.

“I missed you,” she confesses, cradling his face in her hands. Sepia irises shimmer with a soft smirk on his lips. His strong brow, and dark hair still warm her fingertips, settling her heart.

“I only dreamt of you.” Quietly, he whispers against her. His lips greet her again, pulling her to him with every breath. They exist against each other like suns, bringing the light from between their ribs and warming the other’s kiss.

The meadow is theirs, for as long as they hold on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	10. A Creature's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is a little more to monsters and Genji that Angela didn't know she didn't know.

The night is spent in the comfort of the den, but falling asleep is a long process as Genji melts her with his lips against her neck. Her laughter echoes against the walls at his playful smirks and begging eyes. His weakness is just the same, and the powerful creature falls against her when her hands move along his hip line with tender care.

Morning brings the beginning of their days together. Her stories keep them through the day of the people she helped and the book that serves as a guidance to medicine. The blank pages she has now will soon be filled, and his assistance will quicken the pace. When he questions her second book, she answers that it will be for her personal sketches.

His smirk brightens as he speaks about being a lovely muse for her, causing her vexation but at least putting aside her worries of her drawings of him. Though it still makes blood flood her cheeks, his intrigued gaze over her simple sketches makes her proud.  

The arrangement of having Hana and Lúcio climb the mountain to retrieve the plants are met with hesitation by Genji, but she slowly convinces him. Once a month, she’ll climb halfway down the slopes until she reaches the first path, keeping her assistants well out of harm’s way and allowing people to receive medicine. It is the best course of action, and Genji finally agrees.

The river overflows from the snow melt, but Sombra is enjoying the extra volume. She is mildly surprised but glad at Angela's return, if only to gently tug at her blonde hair and entertain herself at Genji’s glare. Her tentacles are still a slick, dark purple, and her needle like teeth hold deadly at her light mentions of someday getting Angela to bring her a human pet all to herself.

Her work begins with once again sketching flowers, kneeling in the meadow and feeling Genji at her side. Most of the uses of roots she remembers by heart, but Genji will look over her shoulder and point out that a dark colored bulb will also help with fevers. The charcoal sticks will stain her fingers a messy gray, but to wash it off will only be momentarily until she carries on writing again.

Genji gets distracted easily when she is working. His fingers will brush her hair aside just to press his lips to the tender spot on the back of her neck. As much as she chastises while trying to fill in the pages, his kisses are warm enough to melt her skin, and she almost forgets the uses of a white flower.

Their longing for the other during the cold months have only strengthen what lies between their fingertips and hearts. She is free at night with him, letting go of snow and isolation.

There is still work to do when the sun rises.

She asks Genji for his venom, explaining how it could help people with issues of blood. His hesitation stems from his venom being lethal in even the smallest amounts, but she reassures him even the worst poison can have the most miraculous healing affect if handled correctly.

In a glass vial, he slips the end of his fang inside, and she watches in curious awe at the slow drip of clear liquid until it is nearly over flowing. When finished, her kiss thanks him as she stores it away. He is still certain of its deathly properties, but he doesn’t touch upon her knowledge of healing.

Fruit trees are blooming, providing sweet food that also results in a mess against their lips and chins. When Sombra isn’t in the river, they’ll wash up and clean while sometimes splashing each other in the shallows. Genji never ventures deep as he can’t swim like she, but the lazy water always suggests that Sombra is hiding close by, making them on edge.

When the air begins to warm and the last of the flowers open their petals, they try only once to slip into the water during a hot night. Genji is sure Sombra is up the river as they make up for their parted time. 

Angela barely has time to grab her clothes when Sombra comes thrashing out of the water, nearly catching them with her tentacles. Hissing threats follow after them as they retreat up the slope, all the while Angela is trying to cool the blush on her cheeks and not glare at Genji’s smirk.

Later on, she warns Genji that if they try to be _cute_ in her river again, she won’t hesitate to drown both. The fire on Angela's cheeks still hasn’t died, but the incident only makes Genji laugh.

When the sun stays out, Genji rests on the rocks to sunbath. It’s her time to steal sketches of him, but more than once she’s looked up from her book to find his smirk dazzling her in the day. She tells him to be still, and he’ll relax once again just so she can draw his closed eyelids.

Lying on his belly, his tail will curl loosely again her legs as she sits beside him. During distracted seconds, she traces the lines of muscle outlined into his back, free of the leather straps for only precious moments. The charcoal sometimes slips free from her fingers as she traces them down his spine. His shivers startle her hand, but he stays still for her to explore his skin and scales.

On the days he leaves to hunt, she prepare a concoction to settle stomachs as he rarely prevents this himself. Monsters have a terrible habit of over eating in the heat of the moment, or in the very least, he does. Those days are quiet, and the flowers are all to herself as she draws the petals of a red plant. Her thoughts wander, imaging him actively stalking and finishing prey, but that is a part of him she doesn’t need to see. She already knows him, and just as she is human, he is a creature of the mountain. They both must exist as they are.

Genji leaves early one morning to hunt. Angela goes to the river to retrieve water for the day, finding Sombra still agitated by the late swimming incident that occurred weeks ago. She still seems fond of reminding them of her consequence should it happen again.

“You and your mate are disgustedly romantic.” Sombra speaks, splashing a little wave of cold water onto Angela’s clothes with a dark tentacle. “Both of you reek of the other.”

Her fingers nearly lose the flask to the slow current. Straightening, Angela’s dripping hands still hovers over the water as she looks to the river creature.

“My mate?” She asks, not believing she heard right.

Sombra raises a brow. “Yes?”

She looks down to the gently flowing water, unknowingly letting pink color her cheekbones and causing a disgusted noise to rise from the back of Sombra’s throat.

"Is that what... creatures call their loves?" Angela asks while cooling her cheeks. 

Sombra nods while rolling her eyes, “It doesn’t happen often, mostly because we’d rather kill each other then make love, but it will occur every decade or so.” Two dark tentacles writhe, jerking Angela’s flask from her hands to examine it for a moment. Once bored by the simple oiled leather, she dips it into the river, letting bubbles escape as water filters inside. “Creatures like us only have one mate for their entire lives, which means if your partner gets killed, you’ve resigned yourself to solitude until death. Fun, isn’t it?”

Anglea watches the flask fill in the smooth grip of her tentacles. The words soak slowly into her mind. If it is true, Genji will only love her during his entire life, even if she meets an early end.

"And I’m Genji’s mate?” Her slow question.

“That’s how it works, last time I checked.” Sombra drops the flask into Angela’s hands. She nearly fumbles it, but tightens her wet grip on the flask. Sitting back on the river bank, she presses her tongue to the inside of her teeth before speaking. 

"Have you ever had a mate?" This is a hard question, but she softly asks it of the river creature. 

"No," she answers, letting one flick of her tentacle splash water onto Angela's arms before sinking back into the river. "I'm not an idiot." 

The short conversation stays with Angela for the rest of the hours in the sun. The word ‘mate’ touches her tongue in private multiple times. It makes blood softly flood her cheeks but afterwards a chastising will follow towards herself for being so ridiculous. Sombra's words tug at her brain as well. Is devotion to another soul so truly scarce and dangerous on the mountain? 

Coming from Sombra, she prefers being Genji’s mate over Genji’s pet.

The next few days, her mind works softly in the background as she fills the pages of the new book. Genji brings her unusual red flowers that have thorns on the stems, but once removed leaves multiple petals that smell heavenly. They are sketched before she twists the stems together, making a crown that first sits on Genji’s dark hair. His smirks seem to be for her now as black hair sticks through green stems and red petals. At her calling him her handsome king, she enjoys one of the rare moments he's flustered. The crown doesn't rest on his head long before being moved onto hers with a flourished bow. His fingers linger on her hair, making her insides melt like wax besides a small flame of a candle. 

Still, her mind runs through heavy thoughts before they rest with the smell of pretty flowers filling the den.

He asks what’s troubling her one day in the meadow, just on the hill that leads towards the little stream. Regret touches her at making him worry, but she works her tongue for a moment before speaking.

“I have a few questions.” She admits, putting her book and charcoal sticks away.

“Ask, my flower,” he stirs beside her as she takes his hand. Squeezing his palm, she debates for a moment.

“How do you hunt?”

He looks to her, blinking once. “What do you mean?”

“These hills are really open,” she gestures to the great space. His large tail is nearly identical to the color of the grass but it shines a reflective light. When she first came upon the land, she saw him in a field of grass easily. How can he hunt down mountain sheep when all they have to do is look and see what is coming upon them?

“How do you not frighten the animals away when they see you?”

He laughs, throwing his head back at that and leaving her waiting for his answer.

“Angela, my prey doesn't see me.”

She raises a brow, unconvinced. Smirking, he leans away from her, tapping his fingers against her leg once before moving over the hill they rest on. She can only see from his shoulders up when he turns back to her.

“Count to twenty, and I’ll show you.” His smirk only teases her interest more, and she begins mouthing the numbers as he trails out of sight. She strains her ears while keeping track of the time, unable to hear his movements with disappointment. His speed must be what gets him to his goal, because she can’t comprehend how he’d startle her without her first catching sight of him.

Twenty seconds pass, and she gets to her feet. Staff in hand, she climbs over the hill to survey the small valley dipping below.

It is empty of any emerald scales or smirking smiles. She clutches her staff closer, squinting in the sun upon any movement in the grass. It is not tall enough to hide his entire body completely, and there is no trace of where he was.

“Genji?” She calls, wondering if he went up to a small circle of oak trees on the other side of the hill before a hiss pierces through the air behind her.

Arms reach from behind to wrap around her, making her gasp. Her staff falls from her hand before the familiar weight around her shoulders registers, and Genji’s hum moves against her. Turning in his arms, she looks around the hill, before resting on his cemented smirk.

“How?” She knows he can move silently when he wants to, but to somehow loop around the entire hill out of her field of vision and then come up behind her is surreal. He drinks this in as his smile grows at her bewilderment.  

“Prey can’t run if they don’t know that there’s anything to run from, that is, until it’s too late.” He offers easily, slipping away to turn on his serpentine body.

Moving back through the grass, she stands as he gathers his tail behind him and crouches low to the ground. The light in his eyes is piercing, intense, and he slowly slithers with the weapons strapped against his body. The muscles on his torso and shoulder move with a careful wave as he creeps closer to her. His serpentine body is tense, powerful. Parting his lips, he moves his jaw to barely let the light glint off his fangs, showing off.

In a spring like motion, he lunges forward off of his powerful tail. Faster than she can anticipate, he stops inches from her face. She blinks, holding her ground and his conceited expression in her gaze. Her brow narrows.

“You’re impossible,” she says. “You must know this.”

His smirk is antagonizing.

“I actually don’t.” Giving her back the space to think clearly without looking at his slips, he sweeps around her. Picking up her staff, he holds it out to her as she turns within the small wall of his emerald scales. “But you seem to find me charming enough.”

She stalls a second, looking from her staff to his softer eyes before taking it with a sigh.

“More than enough,” she says, leaning close to peak his lips with a kiss for the briefest moment. His hand takes hers before she turns away. A hissing hum rumbles through his throat as his lips press against her knuckles like sunlight upon the grass.

As much as he torments her, he is still too soft to not hold close to her chest.

 

*

 

One month passes swiftly in the budding air of spring. Her pack is overflowing with fresh flowers, roots and herbs. Genji travels with her across the mountain face, but stays back when they near the path. They both agreed it would be best if Hana and Lúcio didn't see him just yet, and Angela burdens her pack with a quick reassurance that she will be gone for only moments.

The path comes to view, and a white horse greets her first before Lúcio and Hana realize her presence. Dismounting, they greet her while spewing questions as Hana does her best to settle her horse.  

“He’s never been so skittish, but we’ve never been up the mountains before either,” Hana comments, holding tightly to the reins as she soothes the horse’s jerky moves.

Perhaps the animal can sense the otherworldly aspects of what lives here, but Angela passes the many items of healing agents so they can put it in their own packs without pause.

“Are you doing okay up here, Angela?” Lúcio asks, viewing the mountain top with reasonable distrust.

“I’m doing well, Lúcio. There’s no need to worry.” Her reassurance is soft, and she switches the conversation to him and his care for the people of the town. He is modest, but Hana boasts for him plenty at his marvelous works healing infants and aiding men in pain or illness. He in turn tells about Hana's great speed on her horse, and how her delivery of medicine is helping so many others that they couldn't reach before. 

The young couple are doing well, and it eases a smile onto her lips. Pride swells in her chest, swaying with the soft knowledge that her supplies will only continue to help them.

They give her a few items in return, including a few basic first aid supplies, in case of any accident, and food. Her thanks is sincere as she watches Hana mount her horse and help Lúcio position himself behind her on the saddle. They fit together like a hand and glove. They wish her luck, and with one last wave, they disappear down the barely there path.  

Ease drifts between her ribs as she walks with staff in hand back to Genji. Their free hands find each other as they now make the trip back to the den. Lightness touches through them both as she still keeps in step with Genji and helps those who need it.

The next morning, they go to the grove of blooming trees, where fruits are still growing and the blossoms are small and painted in hues of pink, purple and red. The wind plays with her hair, and she lets it free of its tie. She sits against a thick trunk, and sets to drawing the blossoms of the trees in detail. Genji wanders for a moment before coming back to wrap around her tree and tuck a flower into her hair. It only stays a moment before falling through the blonde strands but she takes it in her palm to study it, letting Genji sprawl across her lap and enjoy the shade.

When noon begins peeking through the leaves, her hunger gets Genji off her lap as they both attempt to search for a fruit that’s ripe. It’s still all new, but she wanders through the trees, losing sight of Genji. He’ll call to her if he finds anything sweet.

She slips past two small trucks, ending at the edge of the grove with no luck among the blossoms. The sketches are already in her book, they’ll just go back to the den where her pack holds a few berries and bread. Stepping into the open side of the mountain, leaving the space between the trees, she finds herself not alone.

In the grass lies a monster, silent and slowly trailing his gaze over her form. Angela stops still, freezing her lungs at the sight of the man’s pale skin, and cobalt blue, serpentine lower body.

There is only sharp emotion in the creature’s dark eyes; his bare chest displays thick muscle and large arms. One hand grips the curved wood of a bow as a single strap holds a quiver across his torso. A frozen look moves over her, dark irises reflecting little light. Black hair is tied in a knot against his head, while a beard covers his jawline.

In almost every way, the creature is similar to Genji, from the shape of his face to the serpentine body. Her heart pounds, remembering the few words Genji spoke about a creature named Amélie. A monster that wouldn’t hesitate to kill her. In the presence of this beast, she feels certain they are akin in this way. Adrenaline rushes blood through her body but her muscles are locked. Her staff is by her book under a tree, and she does not know how far Genji is.

A quiet part of her mind tells her to not break eye contact. Whatever piece of her body always fights to survive is doing its best to keep her together.

The wind picks up, tugging her hair and cooling her skin. It rushes past her and to the creature standing taunt, and anger touches his features as he breathes in.

A hiss leaves the man’s curled mouth, dagger like fangs bared to her.

“How is Genji’s scent all over a human?” The sharp tone nearly cuts her, harsh and demanding.

Another hiss fills the air as one of his powerful arms arches back to retrieve an arrow, displeasure painting every hard angel of his face.

“Must I always clear his mistakes?” He demands to no one specifically as he draws the bow string taunt, aiming the arrow head at her heart.

Angela inhales, lets faith touch her sternum and runs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	11. Brother

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dealing with family is a messy business.

The arrow whistles through the air, cutting the flesh on her arm before the trees offer a small protection. Another arrow embeds itself into the truck of a tree before the sound of pursuit ensues. Adrenaline is pushing her, and her lungs pant but she begins screaming Genji’s name as loudly as the mountain will carry the sound.

Her legs are not the speed of a predators, she can only dodge and lunge through the blossom trees as the creature’s presence creeps closer. The last sound upon her breath before she inhales makes her side ache, and hissing nearly touches against her back.

She is the prey that is not fast enough, now strong enough to survive, but as her heart explodes she lets faith fill her chest and throat.

A pink blossom falls in the distance, touching Genji’s shoulder as he appears through the trees. She does not slow, only angles her flight in his direction as his eyes flash dangerously in the one moment it takes to see her running. 

Another arrow cuts through the air, but she reaches Genji with a breathless leap. Sliding to the ground against the slick grass, a ring of metal clashes just above her head. Hitting the ground, Genji’s tail swipes over her, pushing her farther away as he deflects another arrow with his small sword.

The two creatures collide in a fury with a bow and sword, power straining against strength. Hissing arises in large volume as Genji snaps his fangs at the other creature. Pulling back for a return blow of the blue serpentine’s bow, Genji blocks it with the metal blade, pushing back until they shove each other off. Angela gets to her feet, crouching low with blood pounding in her ears. Blood begins to drip down her arm from the small wound, created by an arrowhead that could have done much worst. Fear grips her throat at Genji fighting, but she can only watch the scene unfold.

The blue serpentine creature backs up only inches, drawing an arrow. The head points away from Genji and to her startled expression. The moment it’s released Genji’s sword flashes in the light. Bashing the arrow off course, he slithers his tail to stand directly between her and the other creature.

Fury digs into the lines of the creature’s face as his fangs arch. “What is the meaning of this? Kill the human, Genji.”

“Withdraw, Hanzo,” he hisses deeply, tensing his powerful muscles in anticipation.

Somehow, Genji knows this creature.

“This is my human, and you will not harm her.”

The anger retracts to blatant confusion, but the blue serpentine does not reach for another arrow.

From her view, they look nearly identical in body mass. If she could focus enough, she could determine whether Genji’s form appears faster and leaner compared to the strong, steady bulk of the other serpentine.

“Are you keeping pets now?” He demands, raising another hiss from Genji.

“This does not concern you. Leave. Now.” His fangs are bared, sharp and deadly.

Both creatures are tense, still ready with weapons but for one moment, she reaches out and touches the very end of Genji’s tail. Her racing heart needs to know that he is not to be harmed. His scales writhe, but then stills under her palm. The blue serpentine looks to her, following the connection with silent observation before repulsion stains his hard features. A hiss arises, but Genji’s move to block his view is too late.

An almost disbelief colors his deep tones, but anger and disgust overshadows it all when he speaks.

“Have you lost yourself, brother?”

Her brow crinkles in sheer incredulity at the creature’s words. Genji’s sword moves through the air like wind, carefully held on strong hands as he flashes his fangs.

“I know where I am, brother.” His statement touches the cherry blossoms, letting her breathe slowly for just one precious moment.

The blue serpentine straightens, lowering his bow as Genji’s stance is unchanged. He doesn’t allow another look to her as he speaks, deep and unforgiving.

“When I return, Genji, this human will be dead. Either by your hands, or mine.”

Genji hisses, tense and ready to deliver a blow from his weapon but the other creature only turns his back. Throwing one last look to Genji, he flows through the grove of trees like a calm current of water, blue scales gleaming before disappearing into the open grassland. The further the serpentine moves away, the more Genji eases himself over to Angela yet never takes his eyes off the shape of the creature until he disappears over a hill.

He turns to her in one swift motion, sheathing his sword and going over her.

“Angela,” he rushes, looking over her before stopping on her arm. “You’re hurt.”

“It’s not deep,” she manages to breath between pants, “Genji, who was that?”

“My brother.” Tearing his gaze back to the hillside, there is no return of the blue serpentine. He swiftly turns back to her, body tensing without restrain.

“We need to move fast, but you won’t be able to keep up.” His expression is hard, but panic is bleeding into his voice. “Will you let me carry you?”

She stalls, looking back to the hill and putting pressure against the wound. Blood slowly drips down her arm as her heart pounds against her sternum.

“Angela, please, let me carry you.” Desperate, angry, he barely speaks without revealing his fangs.

She nods. That is all he needs to sweep her into his arms. He is only solid muscle and hot energy, against his chest she feels security. It takes more restraint than she can see to keep himself from trembling with fear and rage, but his speed is double what she could ever reach. Nearly bobbing side to side against his body, his powerful tail carries them. Along the same path she once ran through, she makes him stop to grab her staff and book, before they finally break out into the open grass of the mountain side.

He doesn’t slow for one moment, always throwing glances to the hills and the tree lines. Her questions are lost immediately to his hushing words, promising that he’ll explain everything soon. Once they reach the meadow, he heads to the river, but the reason from diverting from the den arises in the water with a writhe of tentacles.

“Angela,” he breathes as Sombra curiously watches their quick approach. “I’m going to make sure Hanzo left my territory. Sombra will guard you until I get back.”

“Genji?” Angela is breathless when he lowers her to the ground by the riverside. Curious but patient, Sombra lets them discuss as she looks on from the shallows.

“Please, stay where I know you’re safe. I won’t be long.” He cups her face, locking his uncertain gaze with hers. He’s angry and riled up and afraid, but she is too.

“You have to come back.” She holds herself together, just for this one moment while gripping his wrist. If she was stronger, she would make him stay, and watch over him. Her weakness was made blatantly evident by Hanzo’s pursuit just minutes ago.

“I will.” He swears.

“You have to come back to me.” She refuses to believe anyone can defeat Genji, much less the blue serpentine. The thought will not dance in her head until it crushes her mind.

“I will.” A fast kiss, it barely registers on her lips before he’s facing Sombra.

“Hanzo’s in the area.” He begins, immediately making her brow narrow.

“Did he see—?”

“Yes.” The tension is rolling in waves off his torso and tail, uncontainable. “I’ll give you ten sheep for guarding Angela.”

Her purple-blue gaze slips over to Angela’s breathless state. For once, there isn’t mischief in her inky tendrils.  

“I won’t be able to fight Hanzo out of the water, I can only hide her.” She says, losing the playful edge that was ever present in her voice and comes closer to the muddy ground on the bank of the river.

“I know.” His hiss moves through the words. “Keep her safe.”

She only takes a moment to wave her hand in the air in agreement. “Nothing’s going to kill your mate, but those sheep are mine the moment you can go get them.”

He nods, turning once again. Strong fingers touch her cheek before he turns on his tail and speeds through the grass. Heat stains her skin before it fades away at the first cold wind. Over the rocky hill surrounding the meadow, he disappears, making Angela shiver.

A harsh breath rips through her chest, making her squat upon the ground. Pressing her knees into her chest until it hurts her stomach, she bites the knuckles on her hand. The sharp pressure from her teeth slows her lungs tempo, and the pressure in her jaw is nagging. A distraction. 

“You might want to stop that bleeding.”

Spit stains her hand as she lifts her head to Sombra’s nonchalant gaze. A tentacle moves, taking her slightly deeper into the water before bringing something to the surface. Placing it in her hand, Sombra offers a dripping dark brown plant from the river.

“This will close the wound off, and stop the pain, but you’ll have to properly clean it later.”

Ripping it in half, the weed like plant emits a black juice. In her open palm, she waits, letting Angela look over it slowly.

She feels sick, complete dread is attacking her torso as she sits here and Genji is risking himself. Swallowing roughly, she vaguely worries about vomiting. The adrenaline crash is making her limbs shake, and she only thinks of what the arrows could do to Genji’s skin that have moved under her touch on so many nights.

“Hey, I’m being nice, come get this.” Sombra jerks her away from the void nestling into her brain. After a moment, she scoots pathetically to the river side. Taking the edge of her cloak between her hands, she tears a long strip from the end, ripping it free. The brown plant is placed in her palm with wet fingers. Though her body trembles and threatens to collapse, her fingers are precise, steady. A few drops of liquid spread over the red of her wound before she swiftly wraps it.

Now, her hands have nothing to do but grab fistfuls of her clothes.

“I can’t protect him like he protects him,” she whispers, staring down the length of the river for as long as the hill will allow it. Everything in her chest squirms like a worm drying in the sun upon stone.

“Is this news?” Sombra slowly converts back to her usually tones, understanding without needing clarification. “You’re a human in the land of monsters.”     

Her lungs are slow, nearly silent in the fading sunlight.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Leave.”

Angela’s head snaps to the indifferent face of the river creature. Still in the water, she only looks back, unbothered about the shadows drawing anguish in the lines of her blonde hair.

“Leave the mountain? Leave Genji?” Her voice cracks at his name.

“Leave the certainty of your death, Angela.” She moves upon the ground, sitting her writhing mass beside hers. Tentacles curl and thrash in the mud and grass, foreign and lost. This marks the first time Angela has seen her completely out of the water. Her presence looms, but it doesn’t frighten her like it once did.

“When creatures fight, they don’t aim to wound. Nearly every battle ends with either a standoff, or someone dead.” The shine of her purple-blue eyes are merciless in the setting sun. “You can’t do Genji any good in the heat of a fight. Now that any creature passing by can catch the scent of a human, his enemies will only multiply.”

The trembling in her body begins vibrating her torso. Clutching at her shirt and stomach, Angela runs the thought of some terrible creature cutting down Genji right before her, because he swore to protect her.

There is no more faith in her chest. Only chills, and the physical ache for his wellbeing.

“I can’t leave him.” Her bones are settled in the grass, and her blood runs thick with his warmth.

“Then enjoy the time you have with him.” A tentacle grasps the discarded plant, and lobs it further in land. Sombra settles once again, looking over the hills for a moment.

Biting her tongue, Angela wants to scream. She wants to accuse Sombra of being cruel, of being wrong, but she’s only told the truth. Every living thing upon the mountain is meant to kill humans, but Genji can’t follow her down the path that leads to town.

“I want to protect him.” Her throat is closing, trying to stop her feeble words. “I want to watch over him.”

Staying on the mountain puts them both in danger of any creature. Genji is strong, perhaps the strongest upon the mountain, but he is not untouchable. His blood is a color she cannot allow to stain the grass.

To leave, to leave Genji alone, and to leave the medicine and the flowers will crush her rib cage. Her hands are molded to heal, but if she spends the rest of her days in the town, without Genji’s smirk and warmth, she cannot look back upon her life and say it was a full existence. She can’t say that it was worth it.

A slippery voice tugs her from her mind. Angela takes a moment to focus, unlocking her tense jaw before looking at Sombra.

“What did you say?”

“Genji’s not in danger.”

Loosening her fingers from scrunching fistful of her shirt and flesh, Angela blinks slowly, causing a sigh from Sombra’s lips in the near darkness.

“Hanzo is gone. They would have found each other by now and fought. The winner would almost be to the river looking for you, but since I don’t see blue or green scales, Genji is just making the rounds around his land. He’ll come back here in one piece.”

It loosens an ounce of weight from her shoulders, but she doesn’t truly believe her. As the last of the sun disappear, Angela focuses her breaths. Pulling herself together takes much longer then she likes, and she shouldn’t be shaking so violently by what happened. She’s been in worst situations before, albeit, never where she was directly in danger. Panicking mothers have come to her door with a near still baby in their arms, and men have been carried to her house with torn limbs and destroyed bodies hoping that she can stop the bleeding. All the while, she kept her head and did what she needed to.

She will do that now.

The crash of adrenaline leaves her cold and worn. Warm air doesn’t heat her blood nor does the trickling water soothe her. Sombra’s presence is enough to station her, but she keeps watching the hillside, waiting for Genji.

A dark shape soon comes over the rocks, making Sombra tense before loosening up.

“Look, he’s alive. Will you relax now?” She moves swiftly from the ground and slips her black tendrils back into the water. Unable to wait, Angela gets to her feet as Genji cuts through the meadow.

She runs again, not minding the red staining the bandage on her arm or the way she is already breathless. No dark liquid shines on his skin in the faint starlight, but she still needs to feel him safe and sound.

Crashing together like comets, they both latch onto the steady body of the other. Her arms wrap against him and his still agitated state. One arm holds against his neck, while the other grips his hair like a vice. Strong arms hold her tightly, as if needing the evidence of her wellbeing against his skin.

“Are you alright?” She asks against his cheek.

“Hanzo’s gone.” He doesn’t answer her question. “He won’t return for some time, but he will return.”

It burns on her tongue. Repeating what Sombra said will only make her shake and feel sick, but it’s something that has to be address. In the quiet that follows, Genji only buries his head against the crook of her neck, breathing in slowly against her.

They move back through the rising darkness and into his den. All the candles burn the night away in the space of the den. Genji’s fear has him checking her skin, scowling at the wound on her arm. Finding the right root takes a little time, but Angela cleans the small but sharp cut before a proper bandage stops the blood flow. Her reassurances are dim, as if the land can’t hold any hope tonight.

“Hanzo,” she asks as Genji still actively holds back his fangs in anger and agitation. “He’s your brother?”

He breathes out slowly, restraining himself before answering.

He does not remember a time without his brother, but he knows he is the eldest of them. There are no memories of parents, or being raised from childhood. Their fights have always been grave and sharp, and their separate territories are needed as to not end up bloody every day. It has been three years since he’s seen the blue of his brother’s scales, until today.

The mention of Genji’s lost memories strikes an unknown cord inside Angela. It doesn’t fit right within her soul, and makes her spine tremble with worry. He does not linger on the topic.

Genji never had plans to speak about Hanzo, as he thought he would never come around. His disgust for humans runs deep and strong. To have someone of their kind actively existing with a human is revolting, and Hanzo will not let that stain their powerful beings.

When he finishes, they are left in silence. Unwanted thoughts are distracting them both as they breath the same air.

Angela already knows what his reactions will be. Genji will defend her against Hanzo, but it is not a fight that will let death escape. Someone will bleed, and as emotionless as Genji seems to treat his brother, she doesn’t want him to kill him. She doesn’t want any of this senseless violence but she has very little impact here.

She is a human in the land of monsters.

“Genji…” she nearly cries out his name in a whisper. He reacts, holding her cheeks as her eyes threaten to shimmer, and presses his forehead to hers. Glittering emeralds rope around her crossed legs and wall her in, but they are unsteady. Exhausted and on edge, they cannot find the will to lie down and attempt to sleep. It would be in vain, Angela feels.

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he says again for the countless time that night. He is determined, but blinded by his own emotions as to what is.

“I know.” She clings to his arms, watching his strong chest in the flickering candlelight. “You will protect me…”

The words sitting on her tongue begins festering, and as much as she bites it back, it only keeps pushing against her teeth. Emotion clouds her throat, but she finds her voice.

“I don’t know how to protect you… Besides by leaving.”

Every part of his being stills as she says the truth. The thought has been in his mind too by the way he tightens his hold against her for a moment, as if trying to keep her here now.

“Angela, I’m selfish.” His confession touches against her cheek. Lifting his head, holding her gaze with his hands and eyes, he has never seem more conflicted. “I want you with me.”

One sobs rips through her ribcage, making him brush his thumb against her cheekbone in a tender stroke.

“But I can’t lose you.” He speaks the same line that has been tugging the nerves in her body into chaos. They both know the dangers. They may very well die because of their love, but they are both foolishly, selfishly, wanting to stay in the safe, warm den that holds only false security.

“I can’t watch you die.” The words slip between a sob hurting her throat.

The temporary wall she put up to hold back the flood in her chest crumbles. It was never built to last, only to hold on until she could deal with it privately, but she breaks in front of him. Her own heart betraying herself.

“What do we do?” she cries.

Her chest ruptures, and he witnesses the fall out. He is gentle, murmuring a thousand comforts that can’t seem to still her tears. His pleads for her to not suffer only makes her ache more, but he holds the pieces of her ribcage together. His promises of protecting her echoes against the walls dimly.

He still does not see what she sees. He does not fear what she fears.

Keeping her until there is no more give in her eyes, he refuses every terrible thing. Her entire body hurts too much from sobbing, and when she finally stops herself from breaking, he is patiently waiting.

There is still no answer to Angela’s question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥
> 
> and this is where the angst comes in :)


	12. Stop Having Anxieties and Just Calm Down Said The Little Stream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A decision has to be made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some spiciness in this chapter but if you know me, it's nothing explicit :p

_**SUMMER** _

 

Dreariness settles in her soul. It is a cloud that hovers over both of them, and the new day doesn’t bring sunlight to them. They stay in the den, hiding from the world pathetically. She keeps her hands busy with placing leaves in the flask, making cold tea that should help with the stress digging into their backs. Eating is a chore, but Genji’s concern gaze makes her chew and swallow without being able to taste the usually sweet fruit.

The next few days they at least get out of the den and into the grass and sun. The heaviness circling them has yet to lift, but they both bare smiles for the other and do motions that they know should be done. It must be easy to see, for Sombra gives Genji fish that night without prompt so he doesn’t have to leave Angela to hunt. After she’s sure he’s had enough to keep his energy up, they share the flask of water mixed with soothing leaves.

The cut on her arm heals slowly, but she takes the bandage off soon enough. When Genji is close, his thumb will rub her skin around the injury, jaw tight with tension before she takes his hand between her own.

She wakes to Genji leaning over her and watching the den one night, eyes dark and tired but restless. It takes her minutes to convince him to lie down with her and close his eyes, but his stress is just as apparent as hers. His protectiveness is soft, but she refuses to let it affect his health.

Sleeping is tiresome in itself. They still share hand squeezes and kisses, but it’s in a silent desperate way that may be for the last time. They are quiet save for simple questions and answers about the other’s immediate wellbeing. Talking about the situation will only lead back to Angela’s unanswered question.

Genji hasn’t asked her to leave. She doesn’t tell him she can’t stay. Neither beg the other to make a choice.

Everything is sore and aching and tiresome.

Angela doesn’t fall asleep one night, and slips away from his warmth to sit by a lone candle as he continues to breathe softly in rest. Her sketch book lies in her lap, already filling up with charcoal lines of Genji, a few stray flowers she finds the most pretty, and even a couple of Sombra’s form. Genji’s leather sheaths are hanging on the wall, hilts gleaming metal as a few herb plants hang to lighten the stone smell of the den.

Her mind has burned out every thought over the past week, but it still has a few more fuses to light.

It is selfish of her to want to stay. She can’t put Genji in danger, no matter how much he swears that he is unbeatable. One mistake will cut him down and she will not allow that.

It is selfish if she leaves. Taking away Genji’s only mate will place him in solitude. He said himself he doesn’t want her to go.

_She_ doesn’t want to go. 

Biting her lip, she takes a stick of charcoal between her fingers. The urge to snap it is held carefully at bay as she looks to where Genji sleeps, curled in a bundle of emerald scales. Her hand moves against the paper as she forces her focus on this one thing.       

She refuses to stop until she captures his still face, peaceful without the thoughts of fighting off opponents and defending his mate. His lips are parted slightly as he rests on the crook of his elbow, pink and soft from her memories. A hard jaw with noticeable cheekbones and strong eyebrows, he is handsome.

Impossible handsome. Heartbreakingly handsome.

Closing the book, she rubs her eyes, feeling pressure building up. A sip of tea settles her, but only sleep will aid in clearer thoughts.

It takes a few seconds to step over a part of Genji’s serpentine body, but she slips back down beside him easily. Taking him in her arms, he shifts against her shoulder, the end of his tail twitching.

“Angela?” A half sleepy murmur.

“It’s okay, Genji.” She whispers into his hair. “I just needed a drink, go back to sleep.”

Telling him about her insomnia will only wake and worry him as well. They both can’t be without rest tonight.

“Do you need more water?” He asks against her skin, but his eyes remain closed, sleepy.

“No.” The flask is plenty full.

He rests against her chest, and the weight is a comforting blanket that settles her breathing. Counting slowly, she waits until her lungs tempo is the same as his until she too lets her eyelids shut away everything but Genji against her.

“No, I have everything I need right here.”

It is her own truth, and decision. A warm light touches through her chest, reminiscing of what first made this little den, and this creature, part of her life. Faith blooms once again, and she holds onto it with iron. It won’t snuff out at the slightest hint of a storm, it will blaze into the night that they both promised to travel through.

“I’m not leaving you.” She speaks in the flickering light, making Genji lift his head in sleepy uncertainty.

“My flower?”

Her kiss touches his lips. Chaste and slow, but it only seals away her determination.

“I’m staying, Genji. We’ll handle whatever happens.” At this, some weight rolls off her shoulder blades, but not in its entirely. 

His eyes close slowly, engulfed in a simultaneous wave of relief, worry and determination. His lips find her collarbone, and press a tender kiss to her skin.

“I won’t let anything happen to you, Angela.” His first promise that he renews. An oath that begins on his end.

“I know.” There is no deceit or lie, there is only them and the pressing of their bodies. Love, uncontained in different forms and expressions. Even in the land of monsters.

“I will watch over you.”

 

*

 

They both wake feeling lighter than the cotton white clouds after the rain has flourished the flowers. It moves in their bones. A thin reassurance wraps them close. There are dangers and threats, but those aren’t enough to break their held hands. Angela wants to let go of the dreariness, and remember what they want to fight for. She feels it in Genji as well, in his smirks that are light and happy and not meant to challenge an opponent.  

First, they have to deliver the flowers and roots to Hana and Lúcio. Genji stays hidden once again and Angela goes to meet them. It uplifts her soul to know about Lúcio’s great success and the healing he’s done for those who ask for his help. Hana displays a gold ring on her finger, and announces the wedding in autumn.

Her hugs takes both of the young couple in her arms, wishing them all the luck in the world.

Before they take their leave, they ask once again if she is doing alright, or wishes to return. Her empty pack and staff weigh against her, but she only smiles and lets her reassurance calm them.

She has already made her decision.

Now with the work of the day done, she and Genji enjoy the sun as they come to their retreat. The little stream still trickles on in quiet peace. The water doesn’t go above her knees, but they are both ready to shed off worries for only a little while. The clear water, and the hot day, is just enough for them.

Angela only dares to be in her undergarments as threats are still lurking on the mountain side but Genji unties his leather straps holding his sheathed swords from his body with ease. Her bra and underwear will dry quickly enough. Quietly, her gaze admires the freeing of his skin and the unrestricted form of his muscular body.

It’s strange how monsters don’t require clothing to help protect and warm themselves. A fact that Genji will sometimes tease about when he notices her observation upon him, but she defends that he’s too pretty not to look at.

If anything, that only makes Genji flaunt himself more for her, until she blushes or laughs.

She turns away before he can catch her admiration, and steps into a small pooled part of the stream. It is cool, but not freezing to her veins, perfect for the heating sun trying to cook her skin. Flowing around her legs gently, she breathes in until she feels his presence against her arm.

His scales touch the water, rippling through the clear blue. A quiet sigh escapes his throat at he moves to the other side of the stream. Emeralds shimmer against her leg as she watches the remarkable motion of the water against the natural grace of his tail. It is the flow of the stream against a green wave, weak and underwhelming compared to Genji.

The small grassy bank allows Genji to lower himself and turn to rest his back against its side. His human half barely lies in the water, but his serpentine body spans across the entire small width of the stream, even the end of his tail curls lazily on the grass upon the other side.

She smiles, laughing a little, “This stream may be too small for you.”

His own laugh follows, “I don’t get _in_ the water very often, and it’s usually not safe.”

 “Why?” She feels the small stones against her calloused feet. The sensation of smooth stones rubbing between her toes is welcoming. “Isn’t that why you and Sombra are allies? To use her river?”

He tilts his head in thought, pursing his lips in thought for a moment.

“I wouldn’t bath in her water no matter how many times she promises to not attack, just like she wouldn’t bring herself upon my land even with the fruit and occasional sheep I give her.” His hands rest by his sides, letting the current tug through his fingers as he speaks. “We’re creatures created to kill. It is simply foolish to trust one another.”

Trust. Yet here he lies, open and exposed to her while unprepared with his weapons in her mists. It still shouldn’t touch her heart as heavily as it does each time she makes note of his vulnerability in her presence, but it a sign of his love and trust towards her. She still carries his heart in her palms, and it is with gentle care that she handles it.

“You feel safe with me.” A statement, not a question from her lips. Her hair is free, and touches against her cheeks as she looks upon his face softly.

“Of course,” he hums in a soft hiss that has become a sound of calmness for her as well. Even with his strength and power, he is weak only for her. 

Kneeling slowly into the water, it comes to her hips as she sits down. It flows over her legs, cooling her body instantly in a slow current. A comfortable sigh leaves her mouth, and Genji’s gentle laugh makes her blush slightly in self-awareness.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” His smile is soft and light, free from what was both weighing them down. She doesn’t let her thoughts sour upon what may be, but let’s the hot sun and cool water take her.

She lies her back down in the water beside his tail, dunking her head entirely under to wet her hair. Staying for a moment, the cooling touch of the stream flows over her entire body, before she disturbs it by sitting up in a splatter of falling water.

Genji’s brow is raised in amusement as she pulls her hair from her face, now entirely wet.

“Hush,” she tells him while his lips are still pressed together in a suppressed grin. She travels upon the pebbles of the stream on her knees to be closer to the side of the bank Genji rests against. The water flows against her feet, cooling her skin comfortably.

Moving with caution, she lifts one leg over him, before nestling down on the space where his human flesh and scales melt together. She doesn’t miss the way his eyes wander over her legs that shimmer from the water, especially as she settles on top of him. Gently, his hands take her hips to steady her as she looks at him.

 “Distracted, are we?” She asks, teasing a grin at the way he moves his gaze from her thighs.

“Only admiring what’s beautiful.” His smile flashes his fangs, showing off.

Him displaying his dagger like fangs in a more hidden, soft manner is used as a gesture to impresses a partner. Upon the mountain, fangs are weapons but also pretty things to help gain a mate. She has only discovered this recently due to Sombra disgustedly pointing out that he does this too much. 

In her words, “He already has you as a mate, he doesn’t need to keep showing off to you, especially in front of me.”

So she lets her gaze stay on his fangs a little longer, just to admire the wicked curves. When he finally closes his mouth, he leans up and presses his lips to her collarbones. Soft breaths touches her skin, letting the tension fall from her shoulders to disappear down the stream. Once he feels her settled lungs, he lies back against the bank, happy.

Her lips part as they tug upwards, touching her tongue to a canine among her teeth while letting his gaze take in her face. A sudden laugh bursts from his lips, and he throws his head back as it continues to rumble his chest.

“What?” She asks, placing her hands against his shoulders.

“Nothing, a silly thought…” he only bursts out laughing again.

“Genji,” she demands, not knowing what could be so humorous.

He stops himself to look back to her, and lifts one hand to touch her lips. Stilling under his touch, he gently taps her mouth until she parts her lips. His pinky finger moves against her teeth, tasting like the water as he taps his fingernail against the sharp end of one of her canines.

“It’s like you have tiny, useless, nonvenomous fangs.” His grin is almost too large to contain on his features, and Angela leans back slightly at that.

She scoffs, unable to help the smile tugging at her lips as he moves his hand away to tuck a strand of wet hair behind her ear. His chest still rumbles as he contains his laughter at the ridiculous thought of her with fangs.

“I don’t have fangs, their called canines.” She explains, humorless.

“Of course their fangs.” He argues easily, only beaming more at her denial.

“Humans don’t have fangs, Genji.” She steels her expression, cooling the smile on her lips at his contagious grin. “I would know.”

“Humans have tiny, useless, nonvenomous fangs.” He states, finding too much enjoyment in her bewildered expression.

“Genji, I don’t have tiny, useless—ugh.” Her exasperation is thrown to the sky as he throws his head back laughing. In her defeat, Angela leans away, creating ripples in the water but his arms wrap around her waist.

“No, no, I’m done. I’m done,” he pleads as she raises an unamused brow.

“Angela?”

She crosses her arms, dramatically tilting her chin away.

“My flower?” He speaks so softly, it tugs at her eyes, but she keeps her head turned away.

Her skin erupts with goosebumps as his hands rise against the sides of her stomach. Slowly brushing against the water drops left on her skin, shivers erupt in the wake of his touch. Reaching her ribcage, his gently curled fingers rub against her ribs. Knuckles press against her skin and muscle between her ribs, his own soft touch. A soothing and tender circular motion moves against her torso until she uncrosses her arms and lowers her gaze.

“It makes my heart heavy to not be able to see your beautiful face.” He murmurs softly, his eyes just as pleading.

“Oh?” she makes her tone unconvinced, wanting him to prove his words are more than just pretty lines.

“You take so much of my burdens away from me, Angela.” His soft insistent begins to wear down her hard gaze. “That’s why you carry my heart.”

“Hmm,” she hums softly, breaking her mask.

Her hand reaches out to trail against his sternum. Slowly rising to brush her fingertips against his collarbones, he breathes out slowly as he closes his eyes to her touch. Pale skin against strong bone, she takes her time outlining the small hollow space between the top of his shoulder muscle and chest.

Taking both hands to brush the back of her knuckles against his neck, before cradling his face carefully, he opens his eyes to watch her lean forward. Carefully, for one second, they breathe together, before she touches him with her lips. They are both hungry from the lapse of intimacy because of fear and stress.

In the water, their veins burn with each other’s touch. Bright and consuming, she lets herself taste him slowly, and feels the gentle play of his teeth. His palms against her hips are strong and tender as she still cradles him softly in her hands. They’ve missed the happiness from within the other, and create it on their tongues.

Stability settles them against each other, and they part to breathe. Her hands move through his hair as his kisses don’t cease. Against her jaw, cheeks. His lips hungry for her skin as he touches her nose and eyelashes. She turns to once again catch his mouth with hers, and they find each other again.

Alone, together, in the quiet peace of the little stream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	13. Metal Jewelry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At least one monster doesn't want to eat Angela immedietly upon meeting her...

Lighter days warm them after their time in the spring. Genji settles enough to leave her in the meadow to go hunt, for himself and in payment to Sombra. Although he worries and tells her to go to the river creature if anything happens, he is confident. She’s not sure how, but she has come to miss his smirks and arrogance boasts, if only a little. Not that she’d dare say that out loud to him, his ego is large enough.

The morning is hers in the grove of flowers but she finds the pages already painted with the roots and herbs in the meadow. What other additions she needs to make are far away from the den but still on the edge of Genji’s land. A few hills over, really. She can make the trip herself.

Taking her pack with staff and book in arm, she lets Sombra know of her actions. She shouldn’t be too long, but if Genji should happen to return before she does, Angela doesn’t want him panicking at her absence.

“That’s stupid, just wait for Genji.” Sombra argues, bothered by this.

“I’ll be okay,” she says simply, already walking up the hill.

“If there’s so much as a scratch on you, Genji’s going to take my head off for it.” She shouts at her back, hissing along the bank of the river.

“I won’t get a scratch on me then,” Angela calls over her shoulder, earning another frustrated hiss from the river creature. It doesn’t carry within her eardrums as she leaves the river behind and comes to the small stream.

A few patches of trees grow, aspens and oaks, but special red petals bloom in the shade of weeping willows. She isn’t too far from the den or the river, and she takes a moment to scan the surrounding hillside before disappearing behind a curtain of green leaves. Her staff is by her side as she settles down, charcoal sticks in hand. These flowers will help so many, but she’ll dig them up only after she’s drawn them.

The afternoon goes by quickly. She nibbles on red-purple seeds from the inside of a fruit while drawing and pulling roots from the ground. The sunlight shifts through the many trees, and when it catches her eyes directly her pack is now brimming with new roots and petals. Her book is tucked carefully under her arm when she finally stands. To stretch her legs under the new weight, the blood flows easier after her kneeled position. For one moment, she simply breathes in the faint scent of sap and earth.

The mountain is a beautiful place. Enchanting. It seems only reasonable that such splendor should be contrasted with great beasts and weapons. Her very presence is a neutral, she supposes. Perhaps that is why everything seeks to remove her heart from beating along its great slopes and trees. 

Still, it is peaceful when she can enjoy it.

The left over flowers still bloom around her feet, red and pulsing with energy that can heal and cure illness. What she first came looking for is now only a part of what keeps her here.

A lifetime has seem to past from when she first climbed the rocky slope.

What she and Genji have is simply non-existent. The possibility of a relationship between a monster and human is in none of the cautious tales told to travelers moving through the town. Death and painful punishments only await those who dare trend their feet upon this ground, and here she thrives. In love, and in health.

They are mates for life, and though they are not compatible in some forms, it is not worth more then what their tender kisses and laced hands give.

Angela decided that this is what she will have. Genji, for her existence. Children may not be theirs, and she would never adopt a baby in fear of the mountainside, but this is enough. The flowers, and his warmth, will keep her for her days.

For a moment, she wonders if he would want children, after the years go by, but he has chosen her as his mate long ago. He accepts her and their life as it is and as it will be.

Shifting her staff into her other hand, she exists the trees to feel the full sun on her skin. A short walk takes her to the small stream where it was not too long ago that she and Genji enjoyed its cool water. Now, she kneels beside it and washes the sticky mess off her lips from her lunch. The water is crystal clear as she takes sips of it from her cupped palms.

The sound of scuttling through grass touches her ears over the trickling of the stream. Letting water drip down her chin, Angela reaches for her staff as she gets to her feet in sharp reflex.

Faith tells her Genji’s territory will not be crossed, but there are monsters who live to hunt humans. Her heartrate quickens, but she keeps her stance.  

Sunlight reflects off white plates as she finds the source of the sound. Down the stream, just reaching it from thick tree lines, a monster drags a young buffalo carcass to the water’s edge. An insect like body with eight, short legs stands low to the ground as the human half bares dark skin and long hair draping like silk over the woman’s shoulders. A large, curving tail hangs over the creature’s white plated body. A wicked stinger shines bloody in the sunlight before the creature’s eyes land upon her.

Satya, she remembers as they both startle at the sight of each other.

The monster’s hands drop the dead buffalo before tensing at Angela’s far away form. The stinger hangs over her head, ready to strike within a moment.

Swallowing her fears, she remembers the creature’s elegant words to Genji. Proper, instead of taunting and simply strong. She straightens, and carefully takes a step along the stream and towards the monster.

“Hello,” she says, hoping her voice doesn’t sound too weak.

Her one word seems to offset the creature even more, but her taunt insect body loosens and her tail lowers from a fighting stance. Intrigued, but confused, the great creature looks over her.

“Hello,” she finally says, watching Angela approach slowly and carefully with staff in hand.

She resides on the opposite end of the stream, and Angela leaves her pack and book behind to approach the great creature. The small body of water isn’t anything that could stop the creature from giving chase to her, but it is still a small barrier that Angela uses as she stops across from the white plated creature.

Slowly, she comes to stand on the grass by the bank of the stream. Satya shifts carefully to keep her gaze on her. The movement of her legs are mesmerizing and graceful, different from Genji’s serpentine body but still elegant. Somehow, all those limbs move perfect in sync, white in color and strong. The point where the woman’s dark body melts into hard, white plates exposes her navel, but a clean cloth of blue wraps around her chest. Black, glossy hair hangs over her shoulders, but one elegant hand moves to sweep it back. The buffalo carcass still lies beside her, slightly bloody and ready to be eaten.

“Human, why do you linger here?” Her voice asks, unable to figure out either her bold actions or the lost sense of survival instincts within her.

“There is medicine in the roots and petals of flowers.” She speaks carefully, watching the woman’s face still hold intrigued. “I hope to heal others with the mountain’s gifts.”

The creature’s brow narrows, and Angela’s heart jolts into an adrenaline filled rush but she only looks away for a moment. Something lost touches her dark irises, as if she remembers something.

“Humans do not belong here,” she speaks as if chastising Angela. “You must leave.”

“I won’t,” she answers quietly, holding her staff close as the large monster before her hardens her stare. “I must heal…”

She doesn’t say Genji’s name, but in that moment the monster must catch her scent over the stream and buffalo carcass for her brow lifts with remembrance, then curiosity.

“I’ve smelled your scent before…” she murmurs to herself. Angela braces for the monster’s connection as her eyes suddenly snap to her face.

“You were the human I smelled on Genji’s land.” Realization, and then disbelief colors her. 

The creature inhales as she closes her eyes briefly. Genji’s tail hiding her comes back to her mind, and the awful stinger threatening his person.

“Genji’s scent is all over you…” An accusation that cements into something sad, something far off that Angela can’t grasp in her elegant tones.

“Have you chosen each other as mates?” Her swift demand comes as her rich eyes bore into her own. The great arching tail sways above her, agitated, but not threatening. 

Angela straightens, clutching her staff as she lifts her chin.

“Yes,” she speaks with unwavering steadfastness.

The monster leans back on her many legs, silent as her open, wide gaze stays only upon her. Whatever thoughts are dashing through her mind are untouchable to Angela, but she seems more lost in shock then violence. In one slow motion, the monster lowers her insect body onto the ground and loosely curls her eight legs to her plated sides. She rests besides the buffalo carcass. One hand moves through her hair, finally tearing her gaze away from Angela to watch the stream. In the sunlight, metal suddenly glints in Angela’s eyes. She finds the reflection bouncing off a small silver circle of metal wrapped around one of the creature’s fingers.

“Foolish,” she murmurs. She barely catches her voice over the stream. “Humans do not belong here.”

This monster is not a threat to her. Carefully, she sits beside the water, watching the elegant creature raise her gaze.

“You and Genji are foolish.” She catches sight of her teeth for a moment, sharp but not hiding any fangs. Her stringer must be all that she needs although her hands seem to hold claws.

The white plated, dark skin creature is conflicted in nearly every way. It is almost as if she is concerned about her, a human, than bothered or entertained. The way she murmurs about their foolishness makes Angela want to defend her and Genji, but she keeps silent for now.

No one has to understand what they have, anyways.

“My name is Angela,” she offers quietly, laying her staff across her lap.

The monster turns away, letting her hair fall down before she pushes it back over her shoulder. She breathes loosely, lost in thoughts and perhaps, memories.

Several moments pass before she straightens her human back, looking upon Angela with dark irises.   

“I am Satya,” she gives in, looking over her small statue.

 

*

 

When Satya asks, Angela tells the story of meeting Genji, and falling in love with him. She is silent save for the wet tearing into the buffalo hide and chewing, but she is rather refine in eating, and frequency washes her hands and lips of blood. For a few moments, she worries about Genji finding them both here and reacting harshly, but Angela tells a half truth of Genji just being over the hill. She is still cautious although well meaning.

Satya’s stinger is effectively venomous. It kills in mere moments, and her reflexes are lighting fast. If she were to strike, Angela’s eyes would not be able to comprehend the movement. Thankfully, Satya does not find humans appealing enough to eat. The white plates decorating her body are similar to armor, and very difficult to penetrate. Even weapons like Genji’s sword would have trouble harming her insect body.

Angela’s own thoughts rumble in the background of her speaking about the uses of herbs and roots to heal other humans. This creature seems more reluctant to have contact with other beings, much less a human but she is the first to not treat her like prey. Her rightfully placed faith has protected her once again.

It is nearly dusk when the buffalo is hollowed out and Satya has finished cleaning her skin and white plates. Her carefully held hands draw water from the stream and reach back to clean her stringer of blood, making it look far more deadly and sharp.

“I never thought of Genji as being able to find a mate, much less a human one,” she muses quietly as the sun beings slipping away.

Angela smiles at that, still drinking in the details of the monster across the stream.

“He is sweet when he wants to be,” she defends with ease.

Satya’s heavy gaze still trails over her flesh and bones, and Angela does not know what she sees. Standing upon her eight legs, she steps into the little stream, barely avoiding dipping her insect body into the water before coming beside Angela. She stands to meet her, looking up at the looming figure of the monster as she holds her staff close.

“I do not speak lightly when I say that humans do not belong here.” Her voice is firm, but ringing with another meaning she cannot grasp.

“I know the dangers, and I have Genji.” She answers steadily, both hands wrap around her staff.

Her brow narrows in doubt, but she straightens to walk past Angela. The quiet scuttle of her legs is mesmerizing, a wave of motion lets her move slender, pointed limbs.

“Come, I’ll walk you back to Genji. The night is dangerous.” Her face is unreadable, but Angela is quick to retrieve her book and pack to walk alongside the monster.

“May I ask you something, Satya?” she breathes quietly in the dying light.

“You may,” she answers with ease, glancing down to view her expression.

“Why do you not want to attack me? A human?” She asks carefully, watching her many legs move and her long hair sway when it falls over her shoulders.

Silence stretches on as Satya’s gaze keeps straight ahead. Her expression still puzzles Angela, but a quiet sadness seems to shift over her lips before she parts them.

“Genji is not the only one to have a human for a mate.”

She confesses with a certain stillness but Angela’s eyes widens. Her breathe slips from her lips in a soft gasp as she looks over the monster in a new light.  

Her tongue moves to utter a thousand questions, a thousand wonders about how they make it work and how long they’ve both pulled through but the stars shine in Satya’s eyes like teardrops. Angela closes her lips, and waits with heaviness beginning to lace through her ribs one by one.

“He was smoky and dirty.” Her nose wrinkles fondly for one moment at the mere mention. “A ridiculous fool who thought he could strike gold in the heart of the mountain, but he only woke me up with his explosives.”

They come to the crest of a hill, and Satya’s gaze lowers to the ground as they still keep up their pace.

“We fell in love the way you and Genji did,” her voice is but a whisper, “Pride and fear made us angry until the little metal jewelry he crafted soften me.”

Angela’s eyes flicker to the silver band on her left hand; it rests on her ring finger. As if sensing her gaze, Satya’s hands come together, hiding it from her view as she twists it around her finger.

“I tried to protect Jamison…” There is emotion in her voice that Angela hopes never touches her own vocal cords.

“I fought off so many wanting to kill my mate. He once blew up one side of the mountain, causing a rockslide, just to protect me.” A ghost of a smile touches her mouth. “I had to save him from that as well.”

Still, the stones moving through her chest doesn’t lighten as Satya’s gaze doesn’t lower. For several moments, the great monster is only silent.

“I did not think Amélie would travel that far, but she does not stop once she catches a human scent…”

The name alone makes Angela shiver in the darkness. Her knuckles turn sheer white from her gripping her staff as Satya draws a deep breath.

“Her venom… it was too much. It stopped his heart before I could…” Satya makes a hollow noise in her throat. “I was too late.”

Emotion touches through her, forcing her to swallow as they come over the last rocky hill before the meadow by Genji’s den. Satya stops, her many legs holding upon stone as her white armor looks ghostly in the starlight.

“I’m sorry,” Angela says, meeting the monster’s shimmering eyes. The brown depths seem to plunge deeper than the earth, but she only gives a single look.

“Angela,” she speaks with ages of anguish, “You must understand that your death will consume your mate. Do not make either of you suffer because you believe you are strong enough together.”

Silence snuffs out any voice she has against the creature’s warning words. Sharp anger makes her want to oppose the insect like monster, but her own fears fall back against it. Confliction and confusion chain her, weighing her shoulders down with what could happen, to her or Genji.

She is a human in the lands of monsters.

And humans do not belong here.

“Satya…” she manages, but her gaze is already lifting across the field, narrowing.

“Tell Genji to be calm,” her firmer tone makes her look back to the meadow and the swift approaching form of her love.

She swears under her breath, before moving quickly down the hill. The scene of her so close to another monster will not look good in Genji’s eyes. Racing through the meadow, she intercepts him before he draws his swords. Their bodies nearly crash together in his haste to put himself between her and Satya.

“Angela,” he’s breathless as his serpentine body immediately wraps around her legs.

“It’s okay, I’m okay,” she rushes while anchoring him with her hands to his chest. His muscles are already tense; his fingers tighten as if wanting to hold his sword.  

A hiss builds up in his throat as he faces the hill where Satya still stands. Turning, his back faces Angela as his arm moves to reach for the hilt of his sword.

“Wait, Genji, don’t,” Angela tugs at his arm, causing a sharp glance of confusion to be thrown back to her. “Satya didn’t harm me.”

“Listen to your mate, Genji,” she speaks, drawing herself up straight and carefully poising her stinger where he can see it. “I don’t mean any harm, to you or her, but you are being foolish.”

Genji hisses, but does not reach for his sword at her touch.

“This is not your concern. Do not go near Angela again or I will kill you.” His sharp warning when Angela speaks his name in sharp reproach.

“You can’t protect her from everything,” her words once again pierces through Angela as Genji’s warmth moves against her hands in anger. Stirring sharp stones inside of her lungs, she holds back the uncertainty attached to them.

“Watch me,” he challenges, drawing himself upright even though Satya has the height advantage.

The monster softens her eyes for one moment, in disappointment and grief. Her human mate’s name dances on Angela’s tongue.

“Genji,” Angela moves from his scales, coming between him and Satya but his arms wrap around her waist, stopping her from moving further. Softly, she cups his cheeks in the darkness.

“Satya is not our enemy. She’s my friend—” when Angela looks back to gesture to the monster on the crest of the rocky hill, it is empty of white plates or long black hair. Her hand drops, and Genji lets off a soft hiss.

Satya has left her warning in her wake, and Angela carries it heavily. Genji looks over her for any injuries, festering with agitated energy and worry.

Genji returned just before the sunset, but when Sombra told him she had left earlier that morning, he had only the worst thoughts. He was just about to search for her when Satya appeared over the hill. Fear touched his body as he raced to reach her.

Angela’s apologies for scaring him are repeated over and over with sincerity. It especially festers inside her soul for worrying him with their recent experience with Hanzo. He is on edge and unable to stop his hisses at all the things that could have happened to her. When he does not calm she takes his face to press slow kisses to his eyelids and cheeks, holding him still until he slows his harsh breaths.

He clings to her, moody but at least holding back his hisses of displeasure. Her flask is empty, so they go to the river where another monster who’s upset with Angela waits.

“Will you stop making friends with monsters that can easily kill you?” Sombra’s hiss is lethal as water trickles into the flask.

“But you’re one of them,” she raises a brow at this.

“I know what I said.”

Two sheep carcasses litter the other side of the river as Genji’s payment to Sombra but she hasn’t eaten yet. Both monsters are tense but at least she’s gotten one to settle down enough. Sombra complains to Genji about his mate, who he defends if only to oppose and irritate the river creature while he himself has barely just forgiven her.

The night draws them to exhaustion, and Sombra slips away to enjoy her meal as Genji and Angela return to the den. Once again, she has to prepare a concoction that will ease Genji’s stomach as he seems to insist on having no restraint when he eats. He holds her tightly once they lie down, and her reassurances comes once again but her mind is distracted.

Satya’s words ring in her head with a finality. At every turn, doubt is walling her off but the heat in her skin and the love in her heart refuse to leave, to give up on Genji and what they have in this small den.

Worry infects her veins still. Angela parts her lips as Genji presses a kiss to her hair, and tells him about Satya and a human named Jamison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot ♥


	14. A Candle In A Whirlwind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The peace in their meadow is disturbed...

The story is almost unreal to Genji. He doesn’t find it easy to believe any other human have survived here with a monster mate before. It still presses against Angela’s heart of Satya and her human mate, but Genji bares his fangs when she mentions Amélie.

He’s stronger than Satya, he can keep the great creature away from his love. Boasts of his strength and speed are almost enough to convince her as well, but worry still touches through her.

Genji hasn’t had any contact with Amélie since their encounter last autumn, but he believes she’s taken his warning seriously. One of her legs was taken as to impress it deeply into her mind, or so Genji hopes.

It doesn’t linger with Genji long, he is confidence but the story from the white plated creature still moves in the back of her mind until she lets it go.

They’ll hold their ground against whatever comes.

Bliss touches through them as they return to the routines they’ve known. After a week passes with Genji being cautious and worrying over her, she finally convinces him to settle down.

He finally leaves for a while during the day to hunt and retrieve his promised mountain sheep as payment to Sombra. His return is quick as he appears around noon with two killed animals that Angela doesn’t wish to see. When they retreat to the cool shade of the weeping willows, Angela makes sure that Genji tells Sombra that if she gets belly aches from eating too much that she is more than willing to give her something to help. Genji already knows that Sombra will overeat, so Angela prepares more stomach soothing extracts.

The creatures of the mountain have no restraint when eating, and it only makes Angela worry and get after the strong, deadly, creatures for not taking better care of themselves.

When night falls, Sombra’s complaints reach Angela, and she begrudgingly thanks the human for helping her ease her terrible habits. Unfortunately, that also means enduring her chastising. To Genji’s amusement, Angela rebukes the river creature who can only glare and moan as the stomach ache slowly ebbs away.

In return, Sombra gives her a few aquatic plants to let her document and store for when Hana and Lúcio appear in another moth. Sombra can be a pleasant companion when not threatening to kill people. She and Genji only tolerate each other for Angela’s sake it seems as they only converse when necessary and taunt whenever the opportunity arises. Sombra will still make feint grabs at Angela, but she never fulfills the actions as she only wants Genji’s heated reaction and entertaining threats to follow.

She can only bear them both, and goes to the river by herself when needed. Sombra won’t kill her, and as much as she denies it, Angela firmly believes the river creature has become her friend.

For a while, there is calmness, but she and Genji both feel it. There is a sharp, glimpse of a storm on the horizon. Hanzo is still out there, among many other monsters, but Angela and Genji refuse to let that knowledge darken them like it did before. They’ve taken their stand, and they will hold it until the lightning and thunder and rain hits. Then, they’ll move and do what they must.

 

*

 

A warm morning brightens the day, and as Genji returns from once again paying Sombra with ‘fresh meat’. Angela prepares more stomach settling elixirs, and listens for the cue of moaning and complaints rolling all the way from the river to go visit the river creature. A request comes from her to retrieve a certain root, and Genji goes to retrieve it.

It is only a minute before the faint sound of hissing comes to her in the small opening of the den.

Genji’s hiss.

Angela drops a glass vial in her haste to stand. Rushing from the den, she moves towards the steadily increasing sound. It flows from the meadow, and she stops just from the cave’s outside wall to find what is causing Genji’s response.

At the edge of the meadow, in the deep grass, stands a creature facing Genji. A large, two section shell nearly towers over Genji in a glossy black body. The smaller torso is supported with long, slender, needle like legs. They puncture into the ground, audible reaching her as the creature moves. Seven legs spin and stab through the grass, but one half of the creature is lopsided. Its missing leg leaves a gap between the first and third on the right side.

The upper half of a woman stands on the lower half of a spider. White skin with long, dark hair drapes down her back in a heavy ponytail. Her eyes glint yellow, and fangs pull back both top and bottom lips. She bares no weapons besides her clawed hands, larger size and incisors.

Amélie. She came back, either to challenge Genji or because the smell of human is too strong here.

Genji’s sword reflects the sun’s glare for a moment into her eyes. Gathering her lost breath, she lowers herself to the ground but still views the open field. Her heart lies in her throat as the long sword moves through the air with untouchable grace. Genji stands poised on his tail with his back towards her, a viper ready to strike. Hisses screech through the air as both monsters bare their fangs. The half woman, half spider, moves swiftly upon her feet.

She lunges first, swiping at Genji’s face with dagger like claws but he dodges the attack. Quickly shooting through the grass, his tail ripples in a rapid wave as he slashes at her hard shell torso, earning an ear splitting screech as Amélie moves upon her long, spindly limbs.

Genji’s speed is unmatched, but he is only moving around her as the stationary target that can shift upon her many legs to always face the threat.

Amélie knows this as Genji coils his tail once again. Sharp fangs both glisten in the other’s mouth, deadly. From the way Amélie only tries to latch onto Genji, Angela knows she is venomous. If those fangs puncture Genji’s skin, the fight will end in her favor.

They both act in short bursts of attack. One lunging at the other, aiming to dig blade or fangs into the other’s skin. Genji is quick, and will stab at her large black shell torso only to twist around her, forcing her to move once again to face him. Her fangs are dripping liquid, either saliva or deadly venom. Every time he ducks in for an attack, she snaps her teeth and rakes her claws through his flesh, ripping off his leather straps in one motion but Genji leaves it, unconcerned.

Dirt press into Angela’s stomach as she lies watching the powerful creatures fight. There is nothing she can do but keep herself quiet when Amélie rips Genji’s flesh, creating red ribbons of skin on his back and shoulders. Her gasps of fear are contained when he attacks with his sword, or every time Amélie nears him with her dripping fangs.

The fight is locked in give and take, neither one with the clear advantage. She doesn’t dare show herself as a means of distraction just yet. If he is beginning to fall, she could use her own self as bait for Amélie, but that may also distract Genji. She could attempt to cross the meadow and get to the river where Sombra lies as possible aid, but she doesn’t dare hope she’d go by unnoticed.

Through the dark fear ripping through her belly, faith touches faintly in her ribcage. She latches onto it, an anchor to the whipping, violent waves of Genji and Amélie.

Both are baring bloody injuries, albeit nothing lethal. Amélie’s black, shiny, lower body is marred with red slashes as Genji’s human torso is nearly drenched in red falls of blood from her claws. He doesn’t waver, and his sword still remains tightly in his grasp.

Genji circles her, and she keeps up with his pace in a simple turning motion. The end is near, and Angela’s throat closes at the thought of it.

In the sun, his blade glistens through the red sheen now decorating it. Fangs drip liquid as hissing still echoes in the meadow.

He springs forward off his tail, aiming for her human belly. Long legs shift away, leaving open her legs. One swift blow from the sword severs a gleaming black limb from the smaller torso of the creature’s body. It falls to the ground with a dark scream from the woman’s lips. The bloody stump twitches uncontrollable along the black shell.

Now three legs struggle on either side of the spider like body. Amélie stumbles away from Genji as he straightens, still holding his sword with deadly precision. Her limbs barely hold together when there was once an extra pair to lift her, and she wavers.

Genji prepares for the killing blow, gathering upon his serpentine body to aid in his height as he balances for one final second. He is the predator, dipped in red and held taunt with his strength.

Her heart is clenched tightly in a fist of terror, watching him launch forward with his sword leveled at Amélie’s heart.

Rising upon her legs swiftly, she surprises Genji. He attempts to reposition his thrust but only cuts the edge of her black torso. Dipping her claws into his muscle, Genji cuts into another leg as he tries to pull back from her hold, but Amélie’s teeth are already bared.

In one quick motion, her fangs sink into Genji’s flesh in the crook of his neck and shoulder. A harsh gasp moves through Angela’s lungs before she slaps her palm over her mouth at Genji’s sudden cry of pain.

His sword moves, cutting her human arm and forcing her to release him. Her fangs retract, bloody. Swiftly moving back on his scales, his hand lowers his sword as his other holds against the new blood rushing against his neck. Amélie shifts to her legs with ease, mocking the wounded appearance from before.

No air moves through her lungs as Angela can only view Genji’s attempts to move into a stance, but he sways dangerously in the meadow. The spider creature circles him, even with her bleeding wounds, her face is pleased. Her trap of drawing him in to finishing her worked cleverly, and now her venom flows through his veins.

With the back of a pale arm, the half woman half beast wipes Genji’s blood from her mouth. Still circling him like a vulture upon a dying animal, Genji’s sword slips from his fingers and into the grass. His expression is hard, angry, but she can barely see the whites of his eyes.

She can’t tear her gaze away as Genji’s serpentine body subdues, and his human torso slowly stumbles to the ground in a slow, uncontrollable motion. He lies deadly still in the grass.

A crack echoes faintly in the back of her mind, but it originates from her chest. Every moment, every smile, shatters in her eyes in the quiet meadow that used to be their field of work. She nearly stands, to scream at the monster to take her too, but her limbs refuse to function.

Whatever faith she’s known dies inside her, forsaking her to the reality of his still body lying in the grass as if he sleeps.

She was too late to act.

Amélie straightens to her full height, haughty and victorious. The faint, blood lusting smile on her lips rips through Angela like nails and knives. Her hand still covers her mouth, stopping any broken sound from escaping her lips.

The spider creature stoops over Genji, building Angela’s rage as she touches his body. Grabbing his torso roughly, Amélie lifts his long, winding serpentine tail and drapes him over her black shell body. Readjusting to the added weight, she turns to the east side of the land, and carries Genji away upon her back.

Now, she even takes his body away from her, to eat, to destroy even more of what is left in her heart. Teardrops touch the fingers overlapping her mouth, but they are left unnoticed.

As the creature turns on her fewer legs, Genji’s upper torso nearly drags against the grass from upon Amélie’s back. His head is turned to the hillside, facing her.

She catches his eyes, open and tight. The slow movement of his chest as he still moves against whatever is trickling through his blood stream now finds her.

A breath stumbles through her dry throat at this, and she stands beside the den. A single flame touches the empty space in her chest as Genji still lives. Bleeding, wounded, and infected with whatever toxin that stops his muscles from moving, but breathing. Still here.

A dark though infects Angela’s brain about how Amélie must enjoy her prey while they’re still alive.

Faith rekindles as a roaring fire in her torso. Her staff helps her descend wildly down the meadow, following the strange impressions left in the grass by the trail of the black shelled creature. She treads carefully, following behind her love and the monster bent on taking him away. Amélie never looks back, unafraid of whatever may come now that she has defeated a creature like Genji.

Amélie moves swiftly, even with missing limbs and Genji’s weight carried on her back. Her feet step in her wake, sometimes losing sight of them but never entirely not knowing where they are. All the while, Angela rakes her thoughts for how she can possible get Genji away from her, but her mind is flooded in terror at his blood and still state.

The creature walks for nearly a half day before moving upwards against the grassy slope. Next to the dark forest where neither human nor creature venture, lies a large, open cave mouth. It is almost a cavern by its sheer sized with strange, white patterns etched against the walls, but that is where Amélie brings her stunned prey.

A small hill rises, allowing Angela to lay low against the grass with a view of the cave. Her staff is all she has with her besides her hood and clothes. She waits as the sun sets but Amélie doesn’t come back out from the rock opening.

She is helpless. From watching the two creatures fight to only trailing after them to stop short at the place Genji will most likely die, she is without any means of attack or defense.

The thought tears through her heart; that she can only stand by and wait for Amélie to kill him.

Genji...

She wants to feel him now, in her arms and in the safety of the den. The imprint of his blood dripping against his skin, and his sudden stillness are the nightmares she never spoke of. The last kiss he gave her still lingers on her lips.

Her hand comes back to her mouth, where she bites her knuckles and chokes back a sob.

She is a human in the land of monsters.

Whatever emotions seize her are pushed aside. Choking back staggered breaths, she takes a step towards Amélie’s den.

Genji is powerless, but alive— at least when Amélie dragged him inside the cave. She just needs to make sure she doesn’t devour him right at this moment. As the stars begin to peek out, the burning faith allowing her to pursuit after them is dwindling down to a candle flame. Small and nearly useless against any force of wind, but she clings to it as she goes over the hill and up the slope to the cave opening.

Pressing carefully to the cave’s rocky wall, she doesn’t look inside just yet. She tries to settle her lungs and the dread making her heart pound, but can only strain her ears to listen to what’s inside. If Amélie does want to eat tonight, Angela doesn’t know what she will do.

There’s only silence, but she hears faint movement. Struggled breaths and grunts of labor echo before it suddenly becomes quiet again.

“The human’s smell is all over you, Genji.” The faintest sound reverberates off the cave walls, and Angela holds her breath to listen.

“Do you make that human your mate?” Curious, but also cold humor slips from the she-beasts lips.

She notes a strange sticky white substance streaking across the floor of the cave. Whatever it is, she doesn’t found it pleasant.

“If you were lonely, Genji, I could have helped with that.” Alluring, lustful. Blinding rage touches her chest as her knuckles whiten from gripping her staff too tightly.

“You offer poison compared to honey.”

She lifts her head at Genji’s voice, slow and stalled, but speaking, breathing. For a moment, relief lets her breath.

Hissing reverberates from the black shell creature, but it quickly silences.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had human flesh.” Her skin crawls at the cold voice promising such a dark thing. “Do you think it’s waiting now for you to return? Will I find it in your den?”

“If you touch her, I will kill you.” Hot, spoken fury masked in a slow, drugged state echoes from Genji’s lips. He is alive, but may only be coming out of the venom from Amélie’s deadly fangs. At least Angela knows her toxin doesn’t last more than half a day.

Low laughter builds, stabbing along her nerves at the cruel twist in the sound.

“You’re so angry over a little human.” There is movement of Amélie’s long limbs echoing in the cave, and she tenses for a moment in fear that she has decided to wander out of the cave. It slows down however, and stops.

“I wanted to kill it the moment I found it, but you took another leg from me.” Her cold voice chills her stomach. “I’ll bring the human back for you to watch me eat.”

Her insides clench as Genji’s weak hiss echoes in the cave, but it’s cut off with a pain filled grunt, and then silence. Angela presses against the rock wall, letting it cut into her spine but there is only a few more sharp taps from Amélie’s long limbs before silence follows.

The darkness waits with her as the mountain side turns black in the night with only the starlight helping her vision. Angela’s heart races, but she keeps herself quiet.

She can’t hear Genji, but if Amélie is true to her threat, then she won’t kill him until she finds her. From the painful sounds Genji made, he must be infected again by her deadly fangs. Perhaps she’s addressing her wounds tonight, and will begin the hunt in the morning.

That doesn’t leave a lot of time. Somehow, before dawn, Angela must think of a way to get Genji from the cave while he is unable to move and stop him and herself from getting killed by Amélie.

Oh…

How can she?

Humans do not belong here.  

The small candle of faith is facing a whirlwind in her heart. Barely clinging on, she chokes on a sob that rakes through her chest.

She is not strong, or powerful. She doesn’t have claws of scales or a strange body to help fight creatures. Humans were never meant for this land, and Genji is one of the strongest creatures upon it. He is helpless now against Amélie.

How is she supposed to watch over him when she is nothing like the venom and weapons used in this land?

As a stone presses sharply into her back, the small, dying flame in her chest suddenly bursts forth into a building fire. Small, but steadily growing. She clings to it as she gets to her feet, standing tall with her staff in hand.

She will watch over him.

 

*         

 

Traveling in the night, she doesn’t slow until she finds the meadow. By the starlight, she finds Genji’s leather straps and swords left in the grass beside a severed needle like leg. It takes her several minutes to adjust the straps to tighten over her torso, but they finally fit, and the heavy weight of the weapons presses against her back. Angela leaves her staff in the den before taking a glass vial full of clear liquid from her supply of flowers and roots.

She ponders about approaching Sombra for help, but she is not as effective out of the river, and there is no water near Amélie’s den. Angela will not lose another monster to the spider creature’s fangs.  

She has to do this on her own.

Faith still flickers inside of her, but she doesn’t know how to wield a blade like Genji. Harm has never come willingly from her fingers, and she wishes to never have to deliver it. Exhaustion tugs at limbs, but she goes across the grassy mountain side once again to find Amélie’s lair.

She has never taken another life. Unfortunately, her eyes have watched hearts stop and eyelids close to an eternal sleep. Some lives couldn’t be saved, not even by her. Whether the damage was simple too much, they came to her too late, or there was simply nothing that she could do to save them, she has lost a few souls under her care.

It made her weep the first time. She was helping deliver an infant, but labor was difficult and taking too long. As precisely and delicately as she could, she moved the baby for an easier birth, but when the baby did come, he was already gone.

The mother wailed, and cursed Angela for killing her baby. She knows that it was a moment of grief and lost, but it was the first time someone accused her of taking a life. It wouldn’t be the last, however, as losing a piece of one’s heart will make people do terrible things. Even with the reality of the works she dedicates herself too, she refused to let the loss force her into submission at the harsh and cruelty of the world.

Coming upon the large hole in the rock wall, Angela collapses against its side for one, precious moment. The sky is just getting its first streaks of lavender and pale blue. The stars leave her on her own.

Amélie will begin her hunt for her blood soon.

For a moment, she ponders the chances of waiting until Amélie’s leaves the den to sneak inside and help Genji, but her scent is all over the cave’s outside walls. She’ll know she knows where her den is.

Angela only carries the smallest fractures of memories of her parents. It is hardly any real thing she has of them besides the stories that were told of them. The absence of their caring hands left unfillable holes in her life. She misses them, and the love that could have been with them.

Angela breathes slowly, drawing out Genji’s long sword from the sheath on her back. It feels strange in her hands, unholy. She swore to never cause harm, but it seems this mountain is meant to break, or mold her.

If she is too late, if Amélie is faster… she will shatter. The days will continue to rise and fall, but she will be trapped in the moment she realized his heart had stopped beating. 

She closes her eyes, feeling the weight of the hilt in her hands. There is no question of what lengths Genji would go to keep her safe, but he is powerful. He is made of fangs and weapons and strength.

She is a human in the land of monsters, where she does not belong.

But she will watch over him.

With his heavy sword, faith burning her bones, and the taste of his love on her tongue, she enters the gaping hole in the rock.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot!
> 
> I'm beginning to notice I have a bad habit of making everyone suffer with cliffhangers. I think I make up for it with quick updates though :p


	15. Paralyzed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is very little Angela wouldn't do for Genji...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warning: Blood, violence, mild gore, character death and vomiting.

Her footsteps echo ominously as she follows the strange white substance that stretches across the floor is random intervals and patterns. The small walkway from the entrance to the open space of the cave is small, but very little morning light escapes into the cavern. Adjusting to the dimness makes her blink several times until she can take in where she stands.

White covers the sharp, curving walls of the cave in an almost blanket like manner that touches most everything, even the floor is covered in this substance. It takes a moment to find the large body of Amélie resting in the dark to understand that it’s webbing. She can only see the large, black shell body of the creature, and not her human half. Her heart seizes at the large, slumbering monster, but her blood freezes at not seeing her love. 

The web is her home, marked with large bones stuck in the webbing along the walls, even on top of the ceiling. The remains of monsters that have surely been licked clean by the resident’s owner.

It makes her skeleton shiver at what darkness has occurred here, but she still searches in the dim light.

With Genji’s sword lying flat across one palm, and held in her other in offering, she looks from the creature sleeping to the far end of the cave. Very little light reaches there, but thick webbing almost hides the faintest shimmer of emerald scales. 

She stops a gasp from escaping her throat when her eyes land upon Genji. In the near darkness, his entire body is wrapped in thick, white strings trapping him against the wall of the cave. On an awkward angle, and with most of his serpentine body surrounded in the webbing, he lifts his head at her faint outline in the entrance of the cave.

Exhaustion and hardness shifts to panic and fear at her face, and his eyes dart to the Amélie’s sleeping form before ripping back to her.

“Angela, leave. Now,” he whispers urgently. Webbing traps one arm across his chest, the other along his side and the wall. His head hangs freely, along with his neck and one shoulder. There, however, lies dried blood on his skin, and deep puncture wounds from Amélie’s fangs.

“Genji.” She whispers back, stepping deeper into the cavern. “Are you alright?”

He must find his sword in her hands, for his urgency only grows with a soft hiss.

 “You can’t fight her, Angela. Please, leave and get off the mountain.” His whisper rises as his body strains the webbing, but it doesn’t give. He is free from Amélie’s venom at the moment, but she still lies feet away, asleep.

“I will not leave you to die.” She speaks as the webbing sticks and yanks at her feet until she pulls free and enters the center of the cavern. Genji keeps snapping his eyes back to the black shelled creature and then to her, but she doesn’t slow her advance. He thrashes his tail, testing the webbing but it holds against his strength even in his weakened state. Red stains the webbing around his torso, and a few spots on his green scales. It makes her heart hammer at the sight, but she must finish this.

“I can’t watch you die.” His voice breaks in desperation as he stops struggling. “Angela, go. Please.”

She can see his face better in the shadows, cover in blood, sweat and filth. Worn worry lines mark his hard brow and tight jaw, but she parts her lips to reassure him.

The long legged creature twists up onto her feet in one sharp movement, and finds Angela in the center of her cave. Startled, and wide awake, her wicked fangs curl into a pleased smile.

“Run,” Genji shouts, fighting the white restrains but stays stuck to the wall.

“No,” Amélie clicks her tongue. Moving slowly upon her six limbs, she trails her hand against the impress of Genji’s tail through the web. The creature’s touch upon him makes her jaw tighten, and her knuckles turn white against the sword, but Angela still holds it out in an offering.

“Stay, it’s less tiring if I have to chase you down.” Her voice soothes softly, but her words only twist Angela’s insides.

“Angela—” he’s cut off by Amélie’s clawed hand taking his jaw, and holding him tightly for one moment.

“Is your human damaged?” Angela eye’s only stay on the creature’s claw touching Genji’s face, and the way his brow hardens in rage. “It seems to lack the basic survive instinct others have.” 

“Amélie.” Angela calls, earning her immediate attention. Heavy, yellow eyes bare down upon her in an eerie hunger. In one swift motion, her arm reaches behind her, retracting white webbing from some place on her back and slaps it quickly against Genji’s mouth. His hiss echoes in the cave, but he can’t say anything else. A soft relief touches her soul when the monster lets go of Genji's jaw. 

It is just her and the many legged creature now.

Stepping over her webbing, she moves slowly around Angela. She keeps her back unexposed to Amélie as she comes between the exit and herself. She doesn’t step back when she comes closer and gazes upon her with heavy, hungry eyes.

“I want to trade with you.” Angela speaks, keeping her voice steady.  

“A trade?” Her voice is alluring, falsely sweet. Intrigue but only for the moment.

She presents the sword, raising it out to her in what dim light fills the cavern. Yellow eyes look over it for only a second before returning to her small form. Her raised body comes to about Angela’s head, but she doesn’t falter.

“The sword, for Genji.” She doesn’t look away, letting the flickering determination in her body keep her standing tall. “There is no need for violence, I just want him.”

She begins circling again, keeping Angela on her toes as to make sure her back isn’t facing her lethal fangs. The webbing is difficult to not be stuck to, but she manages for the time being.

 “Do you call him your mate?” She asks, mildly curious, as if she never offered anything.

“Yes.” Her soft answer, and a spare glance to his still tense and struggling body against the webbing on the wall. A string of stick substance may stop him from speaking, but the fear and rage in his eyes is everything. She swallows, looking away only to keep up with Amélie’s movements.

“Then tearing you apart in front of him will make him angry.” Her words strike through her chest, bleeding fear inside of her but she hasn’t stopped circling yet, only looking to Genji to measure the violence in his eyes aimed at her.

“He took two of my legs.” She speaks more as if to herself at this point. “I’ll take both of yours first. Isn’t that fair, Genji?”

Her question only lets a muffled hiss fill the room.

“Before we begin,” she muses calmly, as if death isn’t about to stain the walls of this room in seconds. “Sometimes humans have something interesting to say before I kill them. A few will claim the honor of taking my head, or others plead for forgiveness. Tell me,” she stops circling and comes to her.

Angela tenses her fingers around the sword, but keeps it held out, harmless. The long legged creature seems to have no concerns of her using it against her, or simply sees no threat in her existence at all. Almost in a gentle manner, she lowers herself on her slender legs, and takes Angela’s shoulders. Sharp claws press just barely into her skin as she manages to not whimper at the sudden proximity of her fangs.

“What is the last thing you have to say?” Yellow, fearsome eyes wait, patient and curious. 

Angela breathes, letting her heart pound in her ears before turning her head to face where Genji lies, angry and afraid, all for her.

“I will watch over you.”  

Amélie turns her head as well, wanting to gauge his reaction. In that one second of distracted movement, Angela turns the sword in her hands, and thrusts it into the human belly of the creature.  

Claws dig into her shoulders without restraint, causing a strangled noise to leave Angela as Amélie screeches. Lifting her, and throwing her body like a simple weight, Angela loses the sword as she tumbles across the ground in a hard fall.

She only has a second to reorient herself, and absorb the hard pain blooming in her body when she is grabbed. Sharp daggers dig into her shoulders once again as she gets a view of Amélie’s human torso. A small but deep wound bleeds freely, but it has only angered her.

“A human has never come close to killing me.” Her hiss fills her head like an angry swarm. Adrenaline pumps in her veins, but the small part of her that always fights to survive is telling her to push back, to live.

“You will die like the rest of them.” The creature's dark ponytail swings over her shoulder as her yellow eyes glisten in hunger. 

Opening her jaw, rows of sharp teeth greet her along with wickedly curved fangs. Angela cries out, attempt to wiggle out from under the monster's hold but her fangs are quick. As she clamps her jaw down on Angela’s shoulder, a strangled noise tears through Angela's throat while her hands attempt to scratch and push the monster away. Spikes of sharp anguish rip through skin and punctures her muscle as she struggles against the long legged creature’s attack.

Through the panic and pain, soft hissing reaches her. Faint and held away, but Genji's own anguish doesn't leave her to suffer alone. She turns her head as Amélie lifts hers, her own blood lining her lips as she widens her jaw once again. Her venom is already in her veins, but the creature is ready to eat. 

He's still struggling against the webbing, desperate and weak. Sepia irises glisten in the near darkness, and she softly cries out his name as he fights the impossible white strings. 

She can’t die now.

He’s still in danger.

_Genji…_

Amélie pulls her claws from Angela in a swift, painful motion. Suddenly staggering upright and leaving Angela on the floor, her hand comes to the wound in her torso.  

“No!” she hisses, pressing a palm against the blood staining her pale belly. “No… How?”

Pain makes Angela act, the fear of more of it coming gets her to her feet. Amélie struggles on her remaining legs; the great monster sways. Disbelief holds her yellow eyes in suspension.

“Venom,” she whispers to herself. “How…?

Blood begins blooming against the cloth on her shoulders, but she can’t look away. One last hiss leaves Amélie’s mouth as she crumbles to the ground. Among her sticky webs her long hair sprays out along with her suddenly stiff body and legs angling in all directions. The large creature does not move upon the ground. 

Amélie didn’t care to view the sword. Amélie didn’t notice the slight liquid shine to it. Amélie didn’t know Genji’s venom was spread across the blade by Angela’s careful hands. The venom she asked for to help heal. 

Falling to her knees, Angela vomits bile in the cavern.

By her own work, she has killed the creature.

Pain and panic still fill her chest, but Genji needs her. Tremors shake her bones, and tells her body to sleep. When she looks up, wiping at her mouth, his fearful gaze stays upon Amélie, but lies twisted in confusion. He looks to her, steadying her soul for one moment even as he lies trapped.

He is safe.

Getting to her feet, she half stumbles, half runs to where Genji stays tied against the wall. Unsheathing his small sword from along the leather straps on her back, she begins cutting away the sticky white mass trapping him.

She manages to free one of his arms before her shoulder is too full of venom. Genji takes the sword from her hand, and beings hacking the rest of the webbing binding him. Getting him to still for one moment, her good hand rips the web from his mouth, letting him breathe a sharp hiss. Struggling against the heaviness settling into her limbs, her legs unwillingly bend to the ground. Barely standing on her knees, she watches Genji cut through the webbing like silk, slowly freeing his skin and scales inch by inch. Her mind flashes through Amélie’s red blood against her pale torso, and the suddenly stillness as she dropped to the ground.

Sobs threaten to overthrow her, but Amélie’s venom works through her nervous system. A blessing and a curse.

“Genji,” she gasps, afraid. “Genji.”

“Hold on,” he pleads, mouth free of its gag. “Hold on, Angela.”

Her arms begin to separate from her body, even though she can still clearly see them. The strength in her legs slowly dies, and when this happens, she falls upon the cave floor. A lifeless body. Hair falls into her eyes, blinding her but unable to even blink away a few strands.

Genji curses, and a few seconds later, she senses him close, free. Familiar fingers brush back the hair from her eyes, and turns her on her back. The ceiling of the cave and Genji’s face hold her view as his tired, fearful gaze looks over her. He leans close, pressing his head against her chest where her heart lies. His purpose is lost to her, and she can feel his heat upon her skin. Panic wants to flood her veins, but her body is physically unable to react anymore.

For ten of her heartbeats, she lies paralyzed as he listens to her own drum. He finally breathes out before lifting his head from her chest. He touches her cheek.

“She didn’t give you too much venom,” he says, relieved but still heavy with concern. One small weight rolls off his shoulders.

She remembers Satya, and her human mate, Jamison.

She is acutely aware of her mass difference compared to that of other creatures, and understands his actions in a brief moment of terror. Amélie’s venom could have simply paralyzed her heart if she injected too much into her bloodstream. It seems she wanted her to awake, aware of what death she was about to place upon her. Still, she can’t blink, she can’t wrap her arms around him and make sure he is alright, much less show her fear.

Genji lifts his head, looking across the room. Dry blood still mars his backside and shoulders, even more heavily around his bite wound.

“Hold on,” he whispers, before gently tilting her head away to stare at the wall. She wants to squirm and scream and grab onto him and never let go, but he disappears from her field of vision. The sounds of his familiar movements echo in the dim cave, and she latches onto it as to keep her mind in place.

The sound of metal, his sword, rings as it’s scraped off the ground. Another moment, and he makes a surprised noise. His venom must be familiar, especially on his own blade.

Silent touches the air before a wet slice of the blade echoes in the cave. Angela wants to flinch, to close her eyes to the noise of Genji making sure the creature is dead, but she only remains on the floor. He didn't want her to have to watch. 

Violent images drift into her mind about Amélie bleeding, and her stunned expression before the venom took over her veins.

He comes back to her, touching her shoulder. It flashes painfully, and he presses her worn cloak against it to slow the bleeding from Amélie’s fangs and claws. Stilling for a moment, he leans down again, pressing his forehead to hers in a trembling, weak moment.

“You are so foolish,” he murmurs, exhausted and distraught. “You are so foolish and so am I.”

He’s wrong, protecting him isn’t foolish.

He coils his tail slowly, stiffly. His hands reaching and pulling at the leather straps she tied to her body must be in pain. Carefully, he slips the sheaths from her and onto him, and dons his swords. With a quiet breath, he gathers her in his arms like crystal glass. His lips press against her hair softly as he swears he’ll keep her safe.

“The venom will go away soon, Angela,” he speaks against her temple. Her body is ragged and limp as he carries her from the cave, touching sunlight as if they’ve never known it for months.

“Just hold on, I’ve got you.”

He moves as best as he can in his worn state. Never faltering in holding her close and making sure the sun isn’t directly in her eyes, he climbs hills and grass meadows with dry blood covering his skin and barely closed wounds threatening to open again at the wrong move.

Fear grips her tightly, but his warmth keeps. Unable to move, to speak, to press her palm to the puncture holes in his skin and care for him is insanity. She can only hold on as he said before, and watch faint clouds and the slow motion of his head as he carries them back to the den.

After ages, they come to the meadow. She barely glimpses the weeping willows before Genji ducks them inside the familiar and secure walls of their den.

Carefully laying her frozen body on the bedding, she wants to curl her fingers through his hair and make him never part from her again, but he murmurs softly. Weary and shaken, he still moves. She only can watch him from the corner of her eyes rip off the sword sheaths and retrieve already grounded roots that help fight blood infection. Along with a piece of old cloth, he finds her flask and comes back to her.

He keeps talking, comforting and repetitive, but his voice filling the air helps chase away the dark matter in her soul. As much as she wants to touch him, to feel him in the little cave of theirs, the venom keeps her tied away. Trapped and bound in her own skin, she can only watch Genji’s slow, painful movements. Anxiety mixes in her stomach but there is no more immediate fear or danger, at least that's what she keeps repeating in her head.

He’ll watch over her until she can feel her limbs again. She is shaking within but stable because he stays beside her. No longer held away by some great monster, he’s here with her. Bleeding, but safe. Harmed, but alive.

Gently, he tugs her cloak from her body, mindful of not getting blood everywhere. His tail coils around her as he holds her gently against his chest. Her head rests against the curve of his throat, on the opposite side of his bite wounds.  Murmuring softly as he cleans the blood from her shoulders, his strong hands stop and bunch the cloth in his fist as a fit of boiling anger seizes him, but he forces his muscles to relax. He tells her to keep holding on until the venom leaves her body.

As he carefully washes the blood from her shoulders, she focuses on his movement just against her back. The slow, heavy breaths of exhaustion that sometimes turn to sharp, hisses of rage before he collects himself. Here, with her. Breathing and free. 

The last time he leaves her without his physical contact is to retrieve bandages, and quickly returns to press the cleansing root against her wounds before wrapping her limp body as best as he can. Bloody and much worst then she, he doesn’t attempt to clean his own bloody torso or large gaping wound against his neck.

When he sets aside the supplies, ignoring his own self, he lowers her carefully to the bedding on the floor. If she could, she’d twist her mouth in frustration at his own disregard. She doesn’t move, but he hovers over her.

Emotion shimmers in his eyes, parting his lips as his gaze follows over the features of her face. Silently, he moves her hair from covering her cheeks, and takes her gently in his hands.

“Angela,” he breathes against her, and she listens. “I almost lost you…”

A curse tumbles from his lips as he squeezes his eyes shut. Still holding her, she only prays that her physical touch is keeping him here, and not upon the nightmare of her lifeless body.

“I’ve never been afraid of losing anything until… I _can’t_ lose you.” His voice breaks. Cracking against her own heart, her tongue holds a thousand comforts, a thousand ‘I love you’s but she is frozen. Her fingers itch to reach out and touch his skin and soften the hard tension flowing through his entire body, but she can’t. Not yet.

A kiss touches her temple. He moves, taking her in his arms as he curls around her. Using his arm as her support, he breathes in the crook of her neck. His other hand takes hers, and holds her still fingers. Flesh and scales contains her in a safe body of warmth. He is afraid, he is weary, and she hopes to soon hold him together.

Exhaustion is tugging at him from every angle, but he makes sure she is comfortable and able to see him. His voice carries in the small den as his reassurance continues. Sometimes his soft talk will be stalled with sudden, fearful, angry bouts of both of them being foolish or nearly getting killed, but he reins himself in with a tired breath.

His voice will break at times when he murmurs about Amélie even envisioning about hurting her. It’s as if her still body now keeps presenting a future he can’t hold.

He’s bending under the weight, she can feel his weary soul. If he does not share the burden, he will break and hurt.

When he runs out of words, he begins to hum. The soft, comforting sound rumbles through his chest and against her. It lessens her vulnerable state, and lets her breathe easier. Time slowly warps into meaninglessness besides his continual comfort until her fingers begin twitching.

It’s a slow release, as if Amélie’s fangs are still buried in her skin and she’s only retracting away now. Steadily, the heaviness slowly fades from her muscles. She moves her jaw, breathing deeper as sudden tears swell in her eyes. It’s almost bizarre that her body still carries heavy emotion after the past two days.

She moves her arms, suddenly gripping onto him as he feels her strength. He warns her softly to take it slow. It’s okay, he won’t let anything hurt her. She doesn’t have to move or run or fight now.

A blink lets her tears drop down the side of her face as she finally says his name. He moves carefully as she does, getting to a sitting position but feeling the ache left over in her entire body. Amélie’s venom might not be lethal, but it seems to poison every movement she makes. Genji was bitten twice by her, he has to be suffering much more terribly then her.

“Genji,” she finally says, and she winces at the deep ache in her entire body before she is able to slip her arms around him.

“It’s okay, it’s going to hurt for a little bit.” He murmurs, cradling her as her hand slips through his hair and the other covers his back. Tightening her hold, she swears to herself that she won’t ever let him go.

Amélie’s hand taking his jaw, of the blood still coating his back makes her choke on a sob. His name keeps slipping through her throat, desperately needing him somehow more in her arms.

“Angela, I’m right here.” He speaks against her neck and bandages, pressing his cheek to her hair.

“I almost lost you, too.” Even as her body protests, she tenses herself against him again. His hair is locked in her grip, but she is careful in holding him. The physical weight of his body and the warmth under her own conscious control is overwhelming, and her tears are staining his neck.

“I know,” he breathes, exhausted.

She seems to only be crumbling, as if her bones are fractured and hollow. Muscles and veins barely work, and she keeps her hold tight until the aching in her muscle refuses to stop screaming.

Slowly unlatching herself, he moves with her as she kisses his dirty cheek. He hums once, but tenses as she reaches over him and to the still wet cloth on the ground a foot away from the bedding.

“Angela, wait, I can—”

“No,” she cuts him off, not meaning to be harsh but she seems to only contain harsh edges. Quietly, she gathers the supplies and settles herself in front of his worn and bloody flesh. His scales are dirty and grimy, a few spots of scales are replaced with a bloody flesh wound. Her attention is needed only on him now.

“Okay,” he says, letting himself be still for on moment. It is her time to care for him.

Carefully touching against the dry blood and wounds, she wipes away the flaky brown colors from his skin, slowly revealing all the scratches and bites on his torso. He is quiet, and almost docile like as her hands gentle work against the ribbons and tears in his skin. There is only so much stress a person can handle, even a great creature like himself. His back is worst off with ribbons of his flesh still bleeding after his movements, but the bloody mess on his shoulder worries her about infection.

The cloth is beyond dirty, but for now his torso is clean. She leaves the bedding, attempting to hide her aching movements as she grinds up more roots and takes plant leaves to place in the remaining water in the flask. It will have to be refilled soon. Making a tea that will dull both their pain, she comes back to him.

Quietly, she gets him to sit up one last time. He follows her soft words exactly, even when his eyelids tremble close and his tail bunches around both of them in the position they usually sleep. Infection is just as dangerous as any venom, and Angela slowly cleans the cuts and larger bite wound until there is little threat of such things happening.

Her hand stops against his chest, resting there and noting the oblong oval bite mark on his shoulder. They’ll have matching scars when they heal. Genji’s eyes half open at her stillness, watching her slowly lean forward and press her lips to the pale skin around the puncture marks.

With the cleaning root paste pressed against the wound, she moves the bandages slowly over his body until he’s covered. White strips of cloth wrap over his shoulders and backside heavily. Leaning back to make sure there are no parts of ruined skin she missed, he still looks terrible. Exhausted, aching, and bandaged up while just clean enough.

Her quiet insistence gets him to drink the tea from the flask, but he only sips at it before returning it to her, asking that she drinks some of it too. Leaning in the curve of his shoulder, and holding his free hand, they both pass the flask back and forth. The tea is slightly bitter and citrus tasting, but is slowly loosens the pain trembling through their bodies.

When it’s gone, Genji drops it on the ground before moving his tail. They don’t speak as they curl up against each other, lying silently on the ground. Shaky hands still cling to the other’s hair and body, refusing to let go.

Angela wipes away a teardrop from his skin, before letting her eyes close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot!


	16. Recovering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji and Angela are both aching but healing.

For one entire day, they sleep. Evening of the next day greets their still aching and worn bodies with soft sunlight. Genji’s sore state is beginning to lighten, but Angela is sure that her muscles only hurt more at the slightest movement.

He whispers apologies about believing Amélie’s weaken state. The fear on her face sold him to her being defeated, but his arrogance nearly killed both of them.

She tells about watching the long legged creature attack him. It was a moment she believed he had died to her venom, and her heart only kept beating when she saw him still breathing but paralyzed, then carried away by her.

His tail tenses around her when she continues about following behind them until they came to Amélie’s cave. She didn’t know what to do until she remembered the glass vial of his venom.

Holding her against his chest, he murmurs about seeing her walk in to the monster’s den, with the leather sheaths on her back and sword in hand. Fear had never wrapped his heart so heavy in chains before. His mate, against Amélie. At the moment she began sinking her fangs into her, and Angela’s screams pierced through him, he truly understand grief. His want to tear apart Amélie once and for all but was interrupted by the creature suddenly dropping dead. Angela’s insanely clever move to coat the blade in his venom still astonishes him.

“You are so foolish.” He repeats, pressing her closely against him. “But so am I.”

“Hush, Genji.” She hold his gaze until he loosens in her hands. “We both did things we shouldn’t have.”

She blinks slowly, letting her thumb rub against his cheek.

“I thought I could… I didn’t want to use the sword against her.” She’s too tired to cry, and they ran out of tea a while ago. Her dry throat pesters her but they both don’t have the energy to move just yet.

“There’s no convincing a monster like Amélie.” He touches her hair, brushing his fingers through it and waiting for her gaze to return to him. “I should have done it a long time ago.”

He presses his lips to her cheekbone, brushing it over her trembling eyelashes for one calming second.

“I’m sorry, Angela.”

A quiet hatred burns in her that she was forced to make a decision, to choose such an act, but it isn’t his fault. Violent blood mars her hands now but her action would have been repeated again if it mean saving him.

He is against her skin now, and her kisses are able to touch against his lips.

Just before the sun slips under the horizon, they pull their aching bodies out of the den. Genji doesn’t bother with the leather straps and simply holds his sword in one hand, and clutches her hand with the other. The growing shadows make her skittish, but they get to the river in time to be greeted by a confused Sombra.

“I can’t believe you two are alive, what happened?” Genuine concern flashes in the purple-blue of her eyes upon seeing Angela’s bandages, weary face and bruises, and even Genji’s many wounds, but not surprise. She must have seen Genji’s and Amélie’s battle.

“Angela saved me.” Genji answers, still tired but angry and proud all at once. Settling down, Angela tells the story at Sombra’s bewilderment.  

“You killed Amélie?” Her tone carries breathless as Genji and her clean dirt from their bodies and fill the flask. Dark purple tentacles writhe in amazement as she looks over Angela, softly cutting through the water.

“I had to.” She whispers while reluctantly meeting her gaze, as if waiting to see the accusation in the river creature’s eyes, but if anything, she seems impressed.

“If you hadn’t, Genji would be dead right now, and you too.” She speaks still in awe, looking over her small frame.

“Your mate is strong,” Sombra tells Genji as his hand takes water from the river, splashing it against his scales.

“I know.” He leans down, pressing his head against hers as her hand finds his cheek to hold before they part.

“Hmph.” She muses, looking across the mountain side. “I’ll have some extra fish in the morning if you and Angela care to have it.”

Genji nods, looking to her without flashes his fangs in warning for once.

“That would be greatly appreciated.”

“I just can’t lost my land investment.” She adds, nonchalant. A tentacle cuts through the water, splashing lightly at Angela’s hands.

Genji chuckles, causing Angela to smile at the noise and his slightly amused expression upon the river creature. It’s the first time she’s seem him let go of anger and exhaustion from his features since Amélie’s appearance.

“You never change.”

“Neither do you, arrogant boy.” She curls a sly smile upon her lips, before holding a hand out to Angela.

“Come here, there’s blood in your hair.”

She is aware of that, but she was only going to wet her hands with water and crudely run her fingers through her hair until it was gone, not properly wash it due to her aching body. Sombra’s insistence, and indirectly lending of help is a soothing thought.

Her clothes are discarded and the fading sunlight brightens her undergarments and bare skin. The water is barely cool, but she sits on the pebbles in the shallows as Sombra begins drizzling water on her head.

Genji watches through half closed eyes as he rests in the grass against the bank, cleaner now. He doesn’t hold that same taunt posture whenever Sombra was near her in the past. If anything, he and Sombra have come to the understanding that she won’t ‘play’ with the human, although, Angela has a slight suspicion Sombra is only helping her because she likes touching her hair.

There are worst things to worry about.

Sombra’s hands are gentle when brushing through the dirt and blood stain tips. Lightness touches through her at being clean, and Sombra’s claws carefully pull through tangled strands and grime. The drizzling river water on her head is carefully done as to not soak up the bandages on her shoulders, but there’s only so much that can be helped. Sometimes a tentacle will slip across her back as Sombra shifts, but Angela can only tiredly sit with her arms wrapped around her knees while watching Genji in the grass. They share smiles, albeit tired ones, until water dripping into her eyes makes her blink.

When she finally steps out of the water, and pulls dry clothes over wet skin, they say a soft goodbye to Sombra.

“I’m glad you’re not dead.” She waves them away before slipping underneath the water, disappearing from sight.

Climbing the slope, and returning to the den is a small exhaustion in itself. Angela works more extract and herb leaves into the flask, a bitter but citrus tea to help dull their ache and let sleep fill them. They pass it back and forth, sipping it to clear their dry throats and not feel so tasteless. Once they both have enough, Angela shivers slightly with her damp locks, making her muscles ache. Genji brushes through her hair slowly, letting water touch his fingers until she curls up against him.

It’s strange, but Angela isn’t afraid anymore. Genji is beside her, curling his tail into a resting position and still playing with her hair. They both are hurt and scarred, but they are alive. One of the fearsome creatures upon the mountain is defeated. By both of their hands they have fought back, and survived.

Angela reaches up, finding his lips for a soft, chaste kiss. Warmth spreads through her, chasing away the chill and ache.

The harsh storm has whipped through them, testing muscle and bone but they still stand. Worn and tired but still moving through the terrible night. They are holding on to each other, and it seems hardly anything can break them apart. It’s as if the worst is over, and they still have each other in their arms.

She sleeps with faith in her veins and her hand resting over his heart. 

 

*

 

Morning comes, and Angela gets them both into the sun for warmth and to make sure Genji doesn’t become too stiff in the small den. As much as he protests against her worries, she knows he can only stay in the limited space for so long.

Evidence supports her reason for when they reach the rocks he’s already stretching his serpentine body across the bolder and faintly smiling in the morning sunlight. She hides her grin while opening her sketch book. The ache in her muscles are fading, but she still is slow in movement when reaching for a root or stretching her legs.  

To contrast how she felt only days again, hopeless and terrified, today is a bright time beside her love.

The morning passes by in quiet peace. She draws Genji and a few small ones of Sombra, mostly just her face. When the sun sits directly above them so her shadow falls over her sketchbook, Genji’s eyes snap open and turn to the west side of the rocky hill, startling her. Angela just finds the sudden draw of his attention when he moves quickly, wrapping his serpentine body loosely around her as she stands.

“Satya?” Angela murmurs as Genji draws a sword from his sheath.

White plates gleam clean and spotless as the creature moves across the plain of grass to their rocky hill. The tension rolling off Genji is tangible, and there is no hesitance in his form stemming from recent events.

“Wait,” she murmurs, watching from behind his protective stance. He doesn’t loosen, but he doesn’t charge forward either.

“Genji. Angela.” The monster with a wickedly curved stinger calls up to them with dark eyes full of hopeful intent. “Be calm.”

Her heart already senses what her mission is. Carefully, Angela tugs at Genji’s taunt form, moving away from his looming protection when his arm wraps around her waist.

“Angela, please,” he cautions, tense and switching his gaze from her to Satya. The unwavering set to her face must make him taste the danger.

“Trust me, my love.” She touches his cheek, before taking his hand in hers.

Reluctantly, but steadily, he moves with her down the slope, sword still in one hand. His hard stare must be piercing Satya, for she lets one moment of hard displeasure paint her brow before she softens upon their close proximity.

“Hello,” Angela smiles softly, reminiscing of the surprise of their first meeting by the little stream.

Her stance is loose, unworried about Genji’s tense form looming just behind her. Strong emotions touch her skin, but she knows he only worries. Satya is her friend.

“Hello,” she says quietly, almost breathlessly. One graceful arm moves her long hair behind her shoulder, as if trying to settle herself.

“There are whispers moving upon the mountain. I didn’t dare to believe them, but I must know the truth.” She speaks with a held reverence that threatens to shake her form.

“What whispers?” Genji asks, sharp and blunt.

“Amélie was slain.” Her jaw hardens at just the mention. “By your sword, Genji, but there was the smell of human in the cave. I was fearful for Angela… but you two are both recovering from a terrible fight, it seems.”

Bandages still coat Genji’s shoulder where deep punctures still heal, and Angela still move stiffly from the aftermath of the venom injected into her veins. They are worse for wear, but alive.

“She’s dead.” He confirms, angry. He shifts to hover close to Angela, remembering what is best left in the web like cave.

Satya breathes out slowly, and brings her hands together. For one moment, her fingers twist the silver metal wrapped around her finger. Her white plates shift with a quiet release as she lifts her gaze.

“How?”

The story stumbles over Angela’s lips, but she tells it as the monster before her reflects her anger and fear at what nearly took both their lives. She chokes when she speaks about stopping Amélie with Genji's venom and sword, but Satya closes her eyes.

The emotions that cross her dark skin is beyond what she can hope to imagine. When the creature opens her dark eyes again, she reaches out her hands. Angela steps forward, causing Genji to move in synch with a soft hiss in warning. This does not slow Satya as she clasps Angela’s hand between hers.

“Thank you,” she whispers to the human.

She can’t find the words buried in the emotion coating her throat, so she nods. It is not with pride, or strength that she accepts the monster’s gratitude, but the understanding of fear and love.

Satya straightens, and lets Angela back to her mate. He watches with a sharp gaze, but lowers his sword. Turning on her many insect legs, she stops to cast one heavy look over her white plates and curving stinger.

“I hope you never endure the pain of loss, Genji.”

His hand finds her in the quiet grass, strong and confident on his emerald scales.

“I won’t,” he states.

The white plated monster gives a small, sad smile to both of them. Her many legs carry her elegant form, never stopping once to look back again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	17. Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone looks for Angela upon the mountain.

**_AUTUMN_ **

****

The cold wind sweeps against the pink scars now decorating their bodies, but they are whole. Red leaves and yellow grass bring a dread for what separation winter threatens, but they settle into the meadow as Angela finishes her book. Many pages flow with the same information but now for her keeping. She hopes her first version was enough for Lúcio.

When a good day settles the mountainside, Genij spreads out on a flat boulder to sunbath. He is still enough for her to add his new scars to the drawings in her sketchbook. The oblong bite on his shoulder still makes her flinch inwardly, but his hands have traced her own scar on her skin with trembling fingers.

She’ll take breaks from drawing, and lay against his chest upon the boulder. Watching the sky, she’ll fall sleep beside him without meaning too. A short nap in the sun before the cool wind makes her muscles shiver.

Genji asks about letting him teach her how to hold his blade, and properly attack with it, but she refuses. Her staff still is by her side when she crosses the meadow and grass, and her mind is still heavy from the cavern where the long legged creature lies dead. Violence will not be her answer unless necessary, but she does ask Genji for another vial of his venom. He gives it, and hopes that she never has to uses it again.

Approaching the river creature for her venom was a feat in herself. She has already been paid in full with the sheep Genji promised, but she only inquires with what she could possible do with her venom. 

To help humans must be an amusing enough answer for she does eventually take the glass tube and widen her jaw impossible big before injecting venom from her needle sharp fangs.

Angela is content with her work and ready to revisit Lúcio and Hana on the mountain path. Their meeting is short, but she is glad the married couple are doing well. They ask her once again if she is alright, or wishes to return because of the new cold wind, but she shakes her head politely. Maybe next summer she’ll introduce Genji to them.

Before parting ways, they warn her about some rumors of warriors wanting to scale the mountain before the first snow falls. The warning nestles in her ribs like an infection before Hana and Lúcio depart on her white horse.

Strong men coming up to the mountain to hunt monsters in the attempt of claiming glory isn’t uncommon, but it does start worry inside her. 

“It’s rare, but humans will wander anywhere upon this mountain.” Genji speaks as they travel back through the grass. “I haven’t smelled any since you’ve arrived, but that doesn’t mean humans haven’t been upon here.”

She muses for a moment, looking up to the peak that is shrouded in snow and clouds. It is large, and they only explore through a fraction of what is.

“Let’s hope no one does come here.” Her words before they come back into the meadow. A strange look passes over Genji’s face when she says this, but when asked he only shakes his head and takes her hand to kiss her knuckles.

“Nothing, my flower.”

It doesn’t press her mind again, slipping away as the day does.

 

*

 

As autumn seeps deeper into the trees and dying grass, Angela leaves the mountain to attend Lúcio’s and Hana’s wedding. She doesn’t linger, she only gives the young couple gifts of sage and herbs that symbolize health and love. It is a simple but a happy event as her apprentice sweeps his newly wedded wife off her feet for a dance.

The mountain only notices her absence for three days, but when she comes to their meadow, Genji is waiting for her. The flowers and quiet river along with shimmering emeralds on his serpentine body are what she longs for. Her own home.

There is a certain strength within them now. The threat of Amélie no longer lingers, and any other forces pressing down seem unparalleled to that challenge. Yet, they have a fright of Genji catching Hanzo’s scent near his land when they venture to a grove of fruit trees. For some time, Angela anxiously waits at the river side as Sombra stands guard, eyes searching the rolling hills until Genji appears with only a scowl on his features to let her breathe easier.

They are far from secure, however.

The days are slowly being pulled away from them both as winter threatens their separation. Taking the last of the roots and flowers in the meadow, she prepares for the last trip Lúcio and Hana will make up the mountain before she herself comes back down.

Wind pulls at her hair, whipping her locks even as they are held back in a tie. Genji smirks when she repeatedly brushes her hair from her eyes, but promptly gets her flask of water when she shoos him off.

Her charcoal stick doesn’t even touch the page when a foreign sense touches her, prompting her to look up in fear of cobalt scales or an arrow. Taking a moment to watch Genji’s gracefully tail slither down the mountain side to the river, she turns her gaze until it rests on the rocky hillside of the meadow.

A human figure stands there.

She gets to her feet, leaving her book between pulled up roots but grips her staff as fear starts between her lungs. After a moment, she sees a red serape over the man’s shoulders, and a hat.

“Jesse?” she whispers to herself, then gasps quietly. “Jesse!”

Why is he here in the land of monsters that could easily tear him apart?

Dropping her staff, she runs the length of the meadow in a mad dash. He shouldn’t be here, this is a dangerous place and he’s traveling upon it like he won’t be harmed. His tense form slowly becomes clear until his eyes widen under the brim of his hat. His appearance is not the only surprising thing today, it seems.

“Angela?” He gasps, then, “Angela!”

Anger seems to lace into his words as she comes upon a rock. He takes her shoulders once she’s near, but she grabs his arm to tug him away from viewing the meadow and the river. She doesn’t want to test Genji or Jesse’s reaction to seeing the other.

“Have ya lost yer mind?” He nearly shouts, holding onto her as if she’s a child prone to running off.

“You need to leave, Jesse,” she keeps tugging him away from the hillside but he digs his boots into the grass.

“I come back to town to see ya, and Lúcio and Hana are tellin' me yer gone but won’t tell me where.” He’s nearly breathless when looking over her, as if a creature might have taken a bite out of her before he got here. “I don’t leave the porch until they tell me yer up the mountain pickin' flowers like ya lost all the sense in yer head!”

“Jesse, hush!” She pulls out from his hands and holds his worried gaze with firmness. “I understand your worry, but I’m not in danger here. You are, though, and you need to go back to town.”

The wind pulls at both of their clothes as Jesse lets his shoulders drop. Swearing under his breath, his leans back on his heels. One gloved hand rubs his beard as exhaustion pulls at the smallest crinkles set by his eyes.

“Listen, Angela, I know yer a healer.” He starts, staking his unchanged mind into the ground. “It’s in yer soul but ya can’t risk yerself like this for some little medicine.”

She huffs a slow, careful breath, holding back frustration biting at her tongue.  

“I’m not risking myself, I have… help.” She stumbles for a moment, not wanting to outright tell him about the creature she fell in love with when he looks ready to carry her off the slopes. “I need to continue my work and you need to get off the mountain before you get hurt.”

“Angela?” Genji’s voice calls, far off but nearing.

Jesse turns on his feet in one swift motion. One hand already tugs at the gun in his hostile before Angela can grab his wrist.

“Don’t shoot that thing,” she warns as his grip tightens underneath her fingers.

“Angela, let go!” He tries to shake her grip, but they both lose their focus at dark hair peeking over the rocky hill. In the moment that it takes to see Jesse and Angela struggling, a hiss erupts across the grass as he pulls himself over the hill. The green scales of his serpentine body shimmer in the sun as he lunges forward, fangs bared in fury.

Jesse swears, ripping away from her grasp and freeing his gun. Her feet move quickly, stepping between Genji and the barrel with one raised hand and a warning as his arm wraps around her waist.

“Don’t shoot, Jesse,” she warns, firm. Genji hasn’t drawn his sword at least, but his arm around her waist attempts to shift her behind him and his tail but she digs her heels into the dirt. The only reason Jesse’s bewildered form hasn’t pulled the trigger is because of her shield like body over Genji. With one palm facing Jesse, and the other holding tight against Genji’s arm, she holds firm between the two.

“Angela?” He demands, almost unable to believe his own eyes at the protective looming of the creature over her. This much is apparent, and it is undoubtedly making his assumptions of a few things upon the mountain spin.

“Jesse,” she says carefully as he lowers his gun away from her and Genji’s direction, “This is Genji.”

Her love hasn’t stopped hissing, but he stalls a beat about the human’s name before him. It should be familiar as she’s told him many stories of their trouble filled youth.

His expression is twisted into multiple concerns, but Jesse’s gaze skips from Genji’s serpentine body to his bared fangs and back to Angela with contained fear.

“He’s my mate—love. Genji’s my love, Jesse.” She explains, still feeling his displeased hissing rumble against her back. His hold on her waist tightens, ready to move her out of danger in a moment's notice, but he stays steady at her touch. 

Jesse's face slips into a simple slate of confusion.

“He’s yer what?”

 

*

 

The afternoon passes by before she can get both of them to calm down somehow. Jesse’s gun is in his holster but his hand remains firmly on the grip, while Genji stops hissing. He bares his fangs, however, every time Jesse looks at him for one second too long.

She takes Jesse to the meadow where her book still lies. After a small argument, Genji reluctantly leaves to warn Sombra about the new human and that he’s not someone she can play with either. In the grass, they settle down enough for him to give her yet another strange look.

“Never would I ever have thought ya one for… well, this,” he gestures to the whole mountain side, making a smile tug at her lips.

“It’s okay, Jesse,” she pats his hand while he still looks trigger happy at Genji’s serpentine body and swords. “I really am safe here with him, and I help people with medicine as well.”

She takes a red flower inches from them, uprooting it with ease to place in his gloved hands. It’s like crystal glass, or fine treasure as he overturns it between his fingers. The sight of beautiful petals have become a reality to her while many humans still have no idea how pink a flower can be. 

“Ya love him that much? To stay here from spring ‘til the first snow?” His question has his gaze set firmly upon her own. She can’t possible expect him to understand why Genji makes the blood rush her cheeks or laughter touch her lungs, but she can answer this for him.

“Yes,” she says, without wavering or regret.

The wind tugs at her hair and his hat, but he only gives a soft sound of acknowledgement. Her word is enough for now, but his gaze still lingers with unease upon the creature by the river.

“He treats ya good?” His suspicious voice drawls.

A growl of frustration wants to rip through her throat, but she contains it.

“I wouldn’t be here if he didn’t, Jesse.” Her tone is enough to ease him up from further questions.

He comes from a place of worry, which she understands, but his distrust makes her defensive of Genji, especially since he offered earlier to kill the creature and get them off the mountain as quickly as possible. They’re not teenagers anymore, and he needs to recognize her decisions.

She’s made her choice, but she doesn’t enjoy having to prove it over and over.

“Alright, alright,” he mutters, putting his hands up in surrender at her hard expression. “Take it easy, I just… I worry about ya.”

“I’m fine, Jesse,” she speaks softly, bumping her shoulder into his with a grin reminiscing of their childhood. “I’ve got a big, scary monster watching over me.”

He doesn’t laugh at that, but he doesn’t scowl either. Dusting her cloak and getting to her feet, he stands beside her as she turns to the river.

“Do you want to meet a friend of mine? Her name is Sombra.”

“Sombra?” He tastes it on his tongue with curiosity as he follows her down the slope.

 

*

 

The river creature may now see why Genji puts up with the challenge of keeping a human mate. Her purple-blue eyes gleam with a mischievous, delighted glint at the ‘pet’ Angela brings. She insures their distance is safe enough from the river bank least a writhing tentacle catches his leg. Jesse is as stiff and wary as ever with Sombra, but at least he’s polite enough to call her a lady. His eyes never seem to tear away from her dark tentacles moving slowly through the water, but it makes Angela smile as Genji still looms close beside her.

They leave the river before Sombra can steal his hat.

Dusk begins following, and Angela refuses to let Jesse wander the mountainside in the dark. Directing him to the circle of weeping willows she used to lie under, he gives in with a grumble about her mothering him which she reproaches.

Genji doesn’t ease up until he disappears behind the flowing branches, but even then, he’s grouchy after Angela returns from giving Jesse some tea.

“You’re being childish,” she says, not looking to where he scowls at her truth while crushing a few roots.

“He needs to leave,” he mutters, hissing slightly while his serpentine body twists on the bedding in agitation. At this rate, he’ll work himself into a knot.

“He’ll be gone before noon.” She promises, already having confirmed this with Jesse. “Now relax, you’re making me worried.”

A hiss sizzles out before she puts the extracts away in glass vials. Tugging off her cloak, and undoing her hair as per her routine before bed, he watches with a slowly melting expression. His scowl leaves his lips as she approaches.

“You look much more handsome without that pout,” her lips light up with her tease and his bothered expression.

“You’re cruel,” he declares, before flashing his fangs for a moment to impress her, “Come here, my gorgeous mate.”

She stifles a laugh and small shriek as he pulls her close. His serpentine body curls around them, wrapping her legs in his scales. His lips find her throat, lining kisses against her tender spots before finding her jaw. Her arms wrap around his shoulders, breathless with joy as he climbs her jawline to her ear.

“You’re torturing me,” she gasps with a laugh when he nibbles her ear softly, making her shiver with the sensitive ways he moves against her.

“It’s only fair,” he murmurs, before she laces his fingers through her hair and moves her other hand.

It trails down the familiar warmth of his torso, over strong muscle and pale skin before she finds where flesh melts into scales. There, she moves slowly, feeling him shiver underneath her skin as her fingertips line his flesh and scales. He melts against her like honey, and she breathes a smile into his dark hair at his content hiss.

“Hmmm,” she hums a tuneless noise. For a moment, she simply wants to sing because they’re safe and whole and together. His touch, and soft, giving state against her makes her see the heavens in their little den.

He stays against her chest, listening to her heartbeat as her cheek presses against his hair. Her lips press light kisses to his dark locks and temples as his humming rumbles against her.

Emerald scales move to surround them both, and with gentle care he lowers them to the ground. He lifts away only to come back with a kiss against her lips, slow but heavy. When she sees him, smirking but with eyes gleaming like the stars in the sky, she breathe softly against his lips.

He looks much more handsome without that pout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	18. Scars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Genji needs to get some things off his mind.

The morning dew brushes against her legs in the long grass. Her bones are light and her veins flow free. His heat still imprints her skin where the cold autumn wind blows, but she only pulls her cloak tighter over herself.

Climbing the small hill to the circle of weeping willows, she calls to Jesse without a response. Almost immediate concern floods her as she finds the space under the trees empty.

She yells for Genji who's still in the den as she sweeps her gaze over the meadow and hillsides. She stops at the distinct human figure by the river. There, she can barely make out the river creature on the bank of the river.

Her shoulders loosen as she lets herself breathe. A knowing smile comes to her features as Genji slithers to her side, looming slightly as he flickers his gaze over the mountain slope.

“Are you alright?” He asks, twisting his serpentine tail slightly to curl loosely around her legs.

“Yes, I just couldn’t find Jesse, but then,” she gestures to the river, and Genji brow narrows slightly before he looks unsurprised.

“Finding monsters attractive must be in your family’s nature,” he teases with a smirk that she rolls her eyes at.

“Perhaps,” she gives, before stepping away from his scales to continue down the slope.

At their approach, the human and creature both shift. Sombra takes her form deeper into the water as Jesse gets to his feet. His expression is almost tainted with curiosity and confusion, but there’s a soft dream like shine to his irises when he throws backward glances to the river creature. Her needle like teeth grin in satisfaction when she takes his hat off her wet hair and gives it back to him with dripping fingers. The exchange is quick as their fingertips touch for only moments. 

They both don’t offer explanation, but Jesse is ready to leave with them across the meadows and to the path leading to town. Sombra’s lingering gaze on his backside makes Angela smile more, but the river creature doesn't care enough to acknowledge her reaction.

The beating sun casts his face into a shadow from his hat, and while he carries a few roots and petals at Angela’s insistent, he still stalls when they stand alone before the path.

“I want to make sure yer doin’ alright,” he says, watching her expression with caution at upsetting her.

She sighs before patting his gloved hand.

“Come with Hana and Lúcio,” she says, allowing some worry to lift away from him.

“And if I stay a night or two?” He asks when she twists her face in worry.

“I’d worry about you, but if you must, the trees will always be waiting for you.” She gives a small smile at that, and he breathes out slowly.

He rubs his beard for a moment, looking away. 

“That… Sombra is interestin’.” He says with just as much conflict as he’s been experiencing over the last day and night. His hand still strays to his holster with a steady finger but it seems the mountain has found a soft spot within him.

“She’ll be here, too, when you visit,” she teases, making him grumble.

They embrace for one moment, before parting with a soft goodbye and the turn of his red serape. She watches until he travels out of sight, letting nostalgia touch the air and fly with the cowboy hat. Forsaking the path back to town, she returns to the mountain with a soft breath of coming home.

Genji mood lightens incredibly at Jesse’s absence, and while that makes her unamused, his hums of content sooth her in apology. 

 

*

 

At midnight, she jolts to consciousness with ice in her blood and fear pounding against her sternum. Sitting up, one hand clutches her chest as her heavy lungs move her intense breaths. Genji stirs as she attempts to slow her heaving shoulders, saying her name before touching her arm.

It is not the first nightmare, and not only her own. Amélie’s fangs still lunge at Genji. The creature’s claws dig into her skin until red begins drowning her body.

His whispers are gentle, softly talking away the bad dream until her tongue can form words. Genji waits as she swallows and strains, but kisses her cheeks when she tells of yellow eyes taking him away from her again.

He has them too, but his twitching body shakes her awake before he opens his eyes, as if he’s fighting away the nightmare. When he does return to her, he is angry and clutching her against him. Her whispers dance across his skin until he unlocks his jaw and no longer hisses.

Talking about the terrible dreams isn’t how he calms down, but he answers when she asks. His weakness against other creatures makes him fall. Close to death on the grass, he only watches her attempt to flee from their gaping maws and sharp weapons before she is violently ripped apart right before him. Paralyzed, and powerless to save her.

It doesn’t occur often, but fear does bleed into their dreams. When they wake with trembling muscles, Angela retrieves her sketchbook, and asks Genji what he would like. His requests are always quick, sometimes a flower she’s drawn before or the mountain’s peak. Once, he asked her to draw herself, but she confessed with a laugh that that is impossible. She can’t see herself to properly do it.

He discarded the idea with a comment about how she couldn’t possible capture her beauty anyways.

Still, they both will settle their breathing as the charcoal moves across the paper. The motion for her and the sight for him is calming. A half-finished sketch will be left by the time exhaustion pulls them back to curling up beside each other, but it is what works with a few sips of tea.

Tonight, he wants her to draw something of her choice. 

Her fingers clutch the stick of charcoal as she decides, and begins the outline of her house during the winter. He watches against her shoulder, a familiar weight that anchors her as she continues pulling the charcoal across the page. It's a small cottage, but he yawns before she begins detailing the windows.

She pushes the sketchbook across the floor of the den, before twisting to wrap her arms around Genji’s waist. Pressing against his back as the coil of his tail touches against one of her legs, she breathes softly. Slowly, her fingers move against the scars on his back. He has many faint, pink lines but there’s one that stands more prominent than the others. It cuts diagonally from his right shoulder and across his sternum and spine to the other side. It encircles his person, smoothly staining his skin.

“Genji?” She whispers against him.

He hums in response. 

“How did you get this?” She slowly lines it between his shoulder blades. Recently it was covered with healing scratches and bite wounds but now she shudders at the thought of what caused it.

He shifts against her for a moment, but she still presses close to his back as his serpentine body curls closer around them.

“I’ve been in a lot of fights. I don’t remember every single wound I’ve receive, my flower,” he boasts for a moment, but it echoes quickly, as if he’d rather not dwell on it.

“It looks lethal,” she murmurs, unconvinced.

It’s quiet, and his hand moves against the arm hugging his waist. His fingers rub her skin, causing shivering goosebumps in his wake but she still looks to the scar tissue decorating his body.

“Genji?” she asks again as her insides echo of that moment of worry when Genji couldn’t recall his past.

“I don’t know where it came from, Angela,” his words barely echo off the den walls. “It doesn’t matter now.”

His reluctant words stirs against her lung, tumbling the fear of the unknown into her breath. The questions of the things he doesn't remember hold down her tongue, but she doesn't want to upset him. His reactions to such things aren't light, but he knows there are things he doesn't.

Perhaps it doesn't matter now...

Pressing her cheek against his spine for a moment of comfort, she parts her lips.

She whispers into his back about Hana and Lúcio. He already knows of them, but she wants to reminisce about the gold rings on their hands and Lúcio’s great work for the people instead of what she doesn't know. Hana is a strong rider, and they both stride together perfectly.  

Genji’s hand touching against her wrist tenses for a moment, but quickly loosens. It hardly catches her attention as drifts deeper into sleep. 

The next morning, just as the dew is melting off blades of grass, Sombra converses with Angela as she fills the flask for the day. After a night like the last, she finds herself tired and on edge, but she doesn't want to keep her hands idle. The cool water wakes up her skin as she strokes through it with her fingers.

“You look terrible,” she speaks, nonchalant at Angela’s mild glare.

“Good morning, Sombra,” she deadpans, pulling her hair back to splash water against her face.

“What is Genji doing today?” She asks, holding the flask in the deep of the river. Bubbles escape as water flows into it.

“I’m not sure yet.” She wipes at the water on her cheek, pattering her skin dry. “We were thinking about gathering some fruit today.”

“Get some for me, won’t you?” Passing the flask back, Angela nods slowly. A flash of her fangs gives a lethal smile of thanks before the river creature disappears into the water.

Retrieving her staff and pack, Genji slowly moves at her side as they climb the mountain slope to the same grove of blossom trees where Hanzo found them last autumn. He is tense, and touching the hilt of his sword when they enter the grove but he deems it empty of other creatures. The fruit are almost too ripe, but they quickly locate a few just sweet enough among the small petals on the trees. The shade is cool, but there’s no chilly wind to sweep aside the sun’s warmth.

Indulging in a fruit with fuzzy skin but a delightful taste, they sit back to watch the remaining petals twirl and fall from the trees as autumn takes its toll. Her stomach settles with food and water before Angela decides to climb a smaller tree. It has the most blossoms in the grove, and she finds a fork in the branches where she can sit comfortable against the trunk. The trunk leans slightly, but holds steady. 

“Enjoying the view?” Genji calls, smirking as she looks down the trunk to his upturn gaze.

“There are too many trees,” she says, as they lie in the center of the grove. Fading leaves and dying blossoms block any sort of sight of the mountain side. “But you are always handsome to look at.”

His smirk grows at her compliment. Slowly brushing his tail against the truck of the tree, emerald scales lift him up the bark with only him having to hold onto the branches for balance. Reaching her little nook in the tree, she falls under his intense stare as he leans closer. His hands rest against either side of her ribs on the tree, closing the space between him as he teases a glimpse of his fangs.

She takes his chin in her fingers, leaning forward and delivering a fast kiss to his startled lips. When she pulls back, her laugh gently echoes against the leaves at his stunned expression. It is only a moment before he retaliates with his lips against her nose.

“You keep surprising me,” he says, as if accusing her in the softest way.

Nuzzling softly in the crook of her neck, she melts at his touch while pleads leave her lips between bursts of laughter to stop torturing her. Her hands grab onto his shoulders, but are unable to let go as he moves gently against her sensitive neck. Quietly sighing at her soft presence, he pulls away just to let his smirk build.

“I love surprising you,” she manages in her breathlessness. She moves her arm but bumps into a branch, shaking free a few dry blossoms.

“If really shouldn’t astonish me every time,” he speaks easily as her hands move from his shoulder to his collarbones. “But your beauty over comes me when I look at you.”

Ducking her head for a moment, the bark touches against her spine as she smiles. Blush warms her cheeks, even after he has told her this thousands of times over. It is still sugar coming from his lips.

“You are ridiculous,” she mutters, lifting her head to look over the scar on his shoulder. Pink mars where Amélie’s fangs once cut into him, and her pinky finger gently goes over the skin. They have matching patterns on their shoulders, but it still clenches her heart to remember him covered in blood and paralyzed in her claws.

“It is only the truth.” He moves his hand from against the truck to touch the edge of her collarbone peeking out from her cloak. Sliding under the cloth, he finds the scarred tissue on her shoulder, and rests his warm hand against it.

His lips have touched over her scars many times, sometimes with apologies and sometimes with more declarations of her beauty. His touch erases the fear that comes with it, and warms her skin that is no longer beautiful.

Those thoughts aren’t meant for today, when they are close and secure and happy. Lifting her hand from his scar, she plucks a blossom from a branch hanging overhead, and places it in his dark hair.

“My love?” She speaks, reaching for another blossom.

“Yes?" he moves his hand from her scar, and places it back against the bark to steady himself in the tree.

“You are too lovely,” she slips a sweet smile onto her features, bashing her eyelashes at his soft look.

Placing another red blossom in his hair, she hears his hissing hum rise in his chest, before he moves. Carefully, he reaches for a blossom as well.

“You torture me,” he murmurs, tucking her hair behind her ear before letting a pink blossom decorate her blonde locks.

She hums a note, still satisfied at his flustered form.

“It is only the truth.” She echoes, letting him raise a brow at that.

Giving in to her soft words, he continues his hums as she plucks more blossoms free. He is still as red, purple and pink small flowers touch in his black hair. Making a crown as best as she can, he looks to her with petals and a smirk from her design. The tree is beginning to wear against her back, but he tilts his head in the shade of the tree, looking like a dream.

When she finishes, she touches his cheek, leaning back to view her work upon him more fully. 

“Flowers are always touching your hands.” He notes, being careful to not move too quickly and lose the loose crown of blossoms.

“They are pretty things,” she says, “but you are diamonds compared to petals.”

A smile doesn’t dust his lips like she anticipates, but a strange look touches over his face. Tight and unsure, before pulling a forced smirk on his lips.

“Genji?” She asks, straightening up in the tree as she holds his gaze. “What’s wrong?”

“No, no,” he shakes his head, losing the flowers on his hair at the motion. “Everything’s fine, Angela.”

Her brow narrows, finding little truth in his words. Scooting from the hook in the trees, Genji retracts from his position. In a careful motion, Angela climbs down from the tree as Genji lowers himself onto the grass. She turns to him the moment her feet touch the ground, and takes his hand between both of hers while his serpentine body coils underneath him. 

“Genji,” she demands, softly but firmly. His gaze wavers, before he breathes out slowly. In the shade of the trees, light fractures dance across their skin. His emerald tail shifts in the grass to loosely wrap around her legs.

“Angela…” He collects himself, before finding her eyes. “I can’t give you everything a human can.”

She stills, trying to find his meaning and softly blinking when it becomes clear.

The dislike for Jesse's appearance comes full force to her mind. That, and perhaps her talk of Hana and Lúcio getting married might have contributed to his heavy thoughts. 

Squeezing his hand between both of hers for a moment, she steps closer. Quietly, she shifts his hand until their twined fingers are touching her heart. 

“I have already had these thoughts, Genji.” She speaks softly, wanting to sooth his hard brow of inadequacy. “I have chosen you still.”

It had rolled through her mind during quiet moments, about the difference between him and her. Creature and human. The struggles still find them even in the safety of the den, but it is nothing more than what they've faced before. 

“I don’t need children to be happy," she speaks like a spring breeze. 

There are a few things that taking to the mountainside have left her without, but he fills the spaces in her life she never thought of before. Yes, she had hoped to one day carry her own baby in her arms, but life changes, as does dreams.

“I don’t want to keep you from anything that would create more happiness for you, Angela.” His scales twists through the grass, causing emotion to touch her eyes with how restrictive he views himself even as he clutches her hand.

“Genji,” she suddenly stills, wondering of him. “Do you want children?”

 This affects both of them, and she never thought of his wants in the matter until now.

He chuckles, albeit loosely at that. “Only with you.”

The tightness lacing through her eyes disappears, and she stands on her tiptoes to reach him. Receiving her kiss, he wraps one arm around her waist, holding tightly for one moment. Her thoughts wander, turning to the image of a baby with his dark hair, and eyes. The thought slips away at her will. She touches him with a strong kiss, knowing that he is want she wants.

“You are certain?” He asks, parting from her lips to read her expression.

She nods, having already made this choice long ago.

“I am.”

His brow lifts as they embrace again. Her hand still clutches his to her heart, wanting him to feel her only sure sound. Slow and tender, they kiss until he lets her reassurance wash over her.

They both lack some things because of what they are, but it is not greater than what they hold. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	19. Blood, Bones, and lots of Fangs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fog can hide many monsters...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note the tags before reading this chapter!

They return to their meadow, arms full of fruit. She stops at the river, giving a few fuzzy fruits to the river creature as promised. Genji is lighter, and it fills her soul with soft light to see him without worry.

The next few days she finishes gathering new roots and herbs. She will be meeting with Lúcio and Hana soon, and even closer after that, she’ll have to leave the mountain before snow threatens to freeze her.

One night, she goes through her sketch book to discover a page she tore free from her previous medicine journal. Two dragons fight on a pale white sheet, and she remembers the blue and green scales on the original canvas. The image she copied from the painting in the ruins of the temple still lies in the mysterious forest.

She doesn’t linger on it, but it still stirs questions upon her tongue that holds no answers. It must be obvious, for Genji asks what is troubling her so. She only shakes her head, and takes a few sips of tea from the flask to settle herself. He holds her that night, but her eyes stay open. It grows late as her thoughts run in an endless circle and his sleeping breath touches her skin. Forcing her eyes to close allows sleep to find her, but it is not what she seeks. 

Genji wakes her, and his hard expression reveals the thick fog covering the mountainside. The gray clouds stopping her vision only feet away puts both on edge at what may hide in it.

“I’ll get you water,” he says as he straps on his leather sheaths. “Stay here, it’s safer.”

“Are you sure?” she asks as he takes the flask. When she draws breath, the vivid images of hiding behind Genji’s tail and hoping that whatever mysterious voice Genji speaks won’t harm him chills her.

“There are no more creatures that would dare to venture to my den.” he tenses his jaw over the monster that did, and never will again. “I promise you’ll be safe, and I’ll be quick.”

She twists her lips unhappily, but she nods. In her hand is her staff, ready to venture outside but it isn’t needed. They’ve never had a visitor directly at their cave entrance, and faith blooms in her that he’ll be safe. A kiss touches her hair before he departs, leaving her standing in the den opening as the last of his green serpentine body slips away into the thick fog.

Her heart goes with him, and though she could busy her hands with concoctions and flowers, she curls her legs underneath her and waits. Her staff lies on the ground beside her. He’ll be quick, and she’ll stop worrying once he’s in her sights again.

Pressing her shoulder into the wall as she sits, she folds her hands in her lap. The fog is relentless, her eyes can only follow the dying grass a few feet until whiteness stops her sight. Her blindness is clear. Slowing her breath, she strains her ears for anything in the fog, but it seems the mountainside is still today.

In the gray atmosphere, a shadow appears in the fog. For a moment, her breath stalls in her throat, but a familiar serpentine body presses through the thick cloud.

She stands with staff in hand, smiling in relief.

“Genji—”

Scales come into her view, but they shimmer a cold cobalt blue. An arrow already holds against a bow, and strong arms pull the string back. Behind the weapon is the unforgiving face of Hanzo, and his fangs bared in fury.

Her lungs freeze as the arrow is released. Throwing herself to the side as adrenaline surges through her veins from her terrified heart, she cries out as pain explodes in her side. In the dead grass at the mouth of the den, she rolls onto one knee. She doesn’t tear her gaze away from the creature as he draws another arrow, pointing it at her chest.

“Hanzo, stop,” she nearly shouts, holding her palm up as her other hand touches the blood staining her skin belong her ribcage.

The creature’s hard gaze widens for only a moment at the human speaking his name.

“What?” he growls in disbelief as the bow still holds taunt.

She swallows, pressing the sharp pressure in her side away from her thoughts. Her staff was dropped when she tried to evade his first attack, but it lies a few inches away. Beside it, a bloody arrow protrudes from the ground.

“You don’t have to do this. There is no need for violence.” She trembles but speaks boldly, feeling the cold air touch her skin.

“Humans are simply a fascination to my brother.” His voice lashes out, strong and demanding. “He will learn to stop indulging in frivolous things.”

His strong body tightens under the strap that ties the quiver to his person. Her heart hammers in her chest. In the moment before his fingers let go of the string, Angela cries out again.

“I’m Genji’s mate.”

Her shoulders heave with breathlessness and piercing pain. One hand presses to the sharp cut the arrow made into her side. Faith bleeds onto her palms as she awaits the monster’s reaction.

Hanzo’s expression drops to a still, lethal anger.

“Fool,” he spits, drawing the string even tighter as Angela’s heart stills.

Before the creature can let the arrow fly, a hiss breaks through the fog and Hanzo twists on his serpentine body. Letting the string go, she barely witnesses the arrowhead collide with a small sword, stopping both projectiles dead in the fog.

“Hanzo,” Genji’s voice lashes out in a heavy hiss, but his voice rushes over her in a wave of reassurance.

In the heavy air of gray, Genji’s sword gleams just as his scales shimmer in emerald hues. The blue serpentine turns away from her, but he shifts his tail as to block Genji’s path to Angela.

His brow is hard, furious. Fangs glisten as he bares them in warning to Hanzo before sweeping his gaze to her. She stumbles to her feet, clutching her side as warm liquid taints her fingers. Anger touches through him at the sight of her wound, and he levels his large sword with the sharp blade aimed at his brother’s heart. She swallows against the fear rising in her throat.

“Get away from her,” he snarls, venom coursing through his words.

“What have you done?” Hanzo demands, sharp and commanding as he moves his scales across the dying grass. His tail edges closer to Angela as his bow remains fixed on Genji’s chest. The green serpentine hisses at the movement, slithering forward to match his pace.

“Is this human you’re mate?” Hanzo’s hiss nears her trembling form. She’s gaining her breath, but the sharp pain is slowing her thoughts.

She needs to move.

Stepping quickly, she scraps her fingernails against the grass as she grabs her staff in her rush. Hanzo tenses at her movement, and Genji lunges at his distracted state. An arrow bounces off his blade as he reflects it, sailing into the ground. Her feet carry her from the mouth of the den, attempting to push her around the monsters fighting. The bow in the blue serpentine’s hands rises to meet a blow from Genji’s sword. Their tails lash in fury and strength, coiling tensely as they try their strength against the other.

Hanzo’s fangs snap an inch from Genji’s face, and he pulls back to ready another swing of his sword. She stays in the circle of fog allowing her watch their battle, but cuts through the grass to attempt to put herself behind Genji. He dives forward as the metal of the sword gleams dangerously, but Hanzo dodges the attack with a smooth motion. He has an arrow nocked as Genji pulls his sword back to block the attack, but when he braces for the attack, Hanzo darts to the side of him.

Right towards her.

In her panic, she loses her balance from switching her momentum too quickly. On the dewy grass, her feet slide but she just manages to catch herself. She drops her staff as the movement of her injury catches up to her. A cry escapes her lips at a sharp stab moving under her ribcage, but she hears Genji shouts as her vision shakes.

She manages to get one step back as the fury of the blue serpentine comes upon her. Clutching her side as Hanzo grabs her arm, he yanks her against his chest. For one fleeting moment, the blue serpentine grips her tightly before twining his serpentine body around her legs. The movement makes her spin as he wraps his gleaming cobalt scales around her, but the weight climbs against her torso. It’s too much, and her knees buckle to the ground as her arms become pinned to her sides by the creature. Her upper torso is entirely trapped in a cocoon of Hanzo’s serpentine body.

In the fog, the two monsters’ positions are clear. Genji is feet away, sword drawn but eyes glued on her in a fury and hidden fear. Hanzo’s looms over her as his scales give him height. Somehow, an arrow is ready, and point inches from her skull.

Her wound still lies open, bleeding sharp pains through her torso. Powerful muscle rolls around her and tighten slowly. Her ribs seem to bend against the sudden force, and a squeak is forced from her lungs. A hiss rises from Genji, but his sword is too far.

_Genji…_

Her heart pounds in the sea of otherworldly power beyond her own. Weak, trapped, and terrified.

"Genji..." she chokes out slowly. 

“Hanzo, she’s my mate,” he speaks with fury, and absolution, but there is fear in his irises.

She can barely move her gaze up to where the blue serpentine looms over her, poised with the bow and arrow. His gaze his only upon his brother, and rage seeps from every pore.

A hiss rises, shaking her as his scales tighten again. Her arms press deeper into her ribs, and she finds herself struggling for breath. The pressure of his muscles refuses her lungs the room to expand and breathe.

He’s going to crush her.

Strangled noises escape her throat, causing Genji to snarl as Hanzo hisses again.

“Angela,” he cries, making his brother narrow at her name.

“You have lost yourself, brother,” he speaks, uncontested, “She is human.”

“I know who she is,” Genji says with venom. “If you kill her, Hanzo…”

He doesn’t finish, only lashes his emerald scales in restrain rage. Holding her gaze, his sepia irises shimmer, and she wants to hold him.

The serpentine body tightens again, and something snaps deep within her. A cry of pain wants to echo, but she has no air to push from her lungs as a rib breaks. Her eyelids tremble close as darkness seeps upon her, but Genji’s cry of her name keeps her here.

He lunges forward, but Hanzo’s bow draws taunt. The grip upon his sword could crush skulls as he’s trapped between watching her suffocate slowly or allowing an arrow to pierce her skull. For one moment, his expression from Amélie’s cave comes back to her, along with the broken words he whispered to her in hopelessness.

_I can’t watch you die._

She tries to move, to push back, but it’s akin to falling off a cliff. Once in mid flight, there is very little that can stop the motion now.

“I do what I must,” Hanzo speaks, letting emotion slip from his lips that is heavier than wraith, “for both of us.”

“No,” Genji shouts, darting forward with desperation in the white of his eyes upon her, but Hanzo’s arrow is ready.

A sharp, slippery hiss sounds just beside Angela and Hanzo. The powerful muscles threatening her rib cage loosen in fury of movement and panic, letting her drop to the ground. Air floods her mouth in a painful gasp as pain rockets through her nerves on both sides of her torso.

Black dots her vision as she pitifully rolls onto her side. She coughs, nearly choking as her body begs for air but slows herself at the protest of the broken bone in her chest.

Just inches beside her, Hanzo fights back against dark purple tentacles, and the sharp needle teeth of Sombra trying to dig into the back of his neck. She clings on to his back, tentacles rising to wrap and restrain his arms. Her claws rake against his back, breaking his quiver’s strap with a single swipe as he twists on his tail to face the raging river monster. Out of the water, she is nowhere near her prime strength upon land, but she fights Hanzo with a wicked expression and fury Angela’s never seen before.

She chokes on air. Barely moving one hand to cover her bleeding wound, she tries to move. Agony moves through her as her breathing does, but she only wants to carry the monsters she cares for far from the dangers of Hanzo.

As Hanzo fangs snap back at Sombra, Genji lunges, cutting into the blue scales of his brother’s tail. His screech nearly deafens her ears. Pushing off, Sombra untangles herself from his back and moves in a wave like motion. Taking the quiver, she hurls it and the arrows into the fog before turning back to watch Hanzo coil his tail underneath. Dodging another strike from Genji, he only has his bow to block the sharp blade.

“Get Angela,” Genji shouts, desperate and sharp as he grunts with another blow of his sword.

The attempt to get on her hands and knees is a failure, but Sombra cuts through the fog. One slimy tendril touches upon her for a moment, shoving her hair from her face. After seeing Angela’s eyes, a heavy breath leaves her before the river creature grabs Angela’s waist and throws her over her shoulder. One tendril wraps around her staff.

The movement makes her cry out. Sombra shushes her, and moves into the fog. Upon the back of the river creature, Angela only gets the last view of Genji and Hanzo clashing together with weapons before the heavy clouds swallow them up. Her lips move, saying his name as agony shakes her insides.

Sombra tries to be steady as she rushes them through the thick atmosphere, but she’s not build for the grass and dirt. Her rib seems to stick directly into her nerves, stabbing every pain receptor in her chest as her wound sparks agony. Her squeaks of pain are small, but Sombra shushes her with quick comfort.

“Be quiet, we’re almost there.”

Angela only hears the splash of Sombra’s tentacles through the water before the river comes into her sights. Lowering herself into the current up to her shoulders, Sombra uses the water to more easily move Angela into the cold liquid. A tentacle holds loosely around her waist, mindful of the bloody wound and broken rib.

The river creature swears, fangs still flashing as she gently holds her in the water.

“Can you stop the bleeding, Angela?”

She gives a slow nod, but that only makes her swear again in a heavy breath.

“That fool knew Hanzo would come.” Her tentacles writhe as they cut smoothly through the cold river. “Now I’ve got to make sure you stay in one piece.”

“We need… to help him,” she labors her breath, but upon the land, Genji and Hanzo still duel. Her heart pounds with blood and fear.

“We can’t do anything now.” Her mutter cuts through Angela just as easily as the arrowhead did. “You need to take care of yourself.”

With caution, Sombra’s clawed hands and slimy tendrils raise her back out of the water and set her upon the muddy edge. A grunt of pain rips through her throat at the motion, but she sits up enough to watch red bleed into water upon the hole in her cloak and skin.

Pulling her staff from the river, Sombra sets it beside Angela as she applies pressure to the pain blooming upon her side.

“I thought you were dead when I heard that bone crack, but Genji wasn’t screaming, so I thought that there could still be a chance…” She trails off, setting her purple-blue eyes upon Angela's trembling hands holding against her injury with a heavy brow.

“Sombra,” she nearly begs as every breath hurts, “Genji needs help.”

“I just managed to get Hanzo to drop you and rip his quiver off. If he comes to the river, I’d kill him easily but unless Genji leads him here, I’m watching you.” She is only factual, stating the truth that burns Angela with worry and hatred.

When she parts her lips, the river creature’s head snaps up the mountain slope, and hisses.

“Sombra?” Angela asks. Fog hovers heavily by the rushing water, and she can barely see a few feet in other directions. However, shadows move through it, and she catches a sharp face with cobalt scales.

"Stay here,” she throws the order at her as she cuts into the water, disappearing in a shimmer.

“Wait,” she gasps, wanting to shield the ones she cares for from the bow of Hanzo, but she only struggles to breathe. Sombra leaves her on the bank, exposed entirely to the blue serpentine.

Where is Genji?

There is silence for a moment. It blankets the river and fog as the creature searches the river with sharp eyes, but lands upon her. She tries to stall the gasp of fear in her throat, but it echoes as Hanzo lunges across the space separating them.  

Angela backpedals into the shallow end of the river, crying out at the movement of pain and the fangs glistening inches from her. The first of his scales touch the water as he reaches for her. 

Sombra appears in a shimmer of air as multiple tentacles lash out of the water to grip Hanzo’s arms and torso, but he pulls back. His bow breaks a few of the dark tendrils grips, before Sombra retreats, holding waist deep in the current with a needle filled snarl. She looms over Angela, and in that moment it appears plainly that Sombra was using her as bait.

“Why do you protect the human?” Hanzo demands, angry and hissing. “Give it up, and I won’t kill you.”

“If you want her, come into the water. I’d love to drown a great snake,” Sombra’s hiss is slippery, and inviting, but the blue serpentine doesn’t stray to the water’s edge. Her eagerness paints warnings in the sand. A few tendrils surround her, protective and angry. 

A voice cuts through the fog. Genji’s own hiss touches upon her as Hanzo twists to block another strike of his sword. The blue serpentine must have given chase when Sombra carried her away, but Genji followed closely.

He stills upon finding her in the water, and under Sombra's protective form. For a moment, he simply breathes as if holding his breath for much too long. Then, he parts his lips to bare his fangs at his brother. 

She can hardly see her love through the fog, but he presses Hanzo closer to the river where Sombra snaps and lashes at any part of him. Cornered. One tentacle tugs Angela through the shallows and away from the middle of the fight. Once she's pushed far enough away, she pulls herself up onto the muddy bank.

Genji is a fury of speed and strength. His fangs lash with every strike, and snap inches from Hanzo’s skin. The sword rings against the bow with every clash, and he only pushes harder to hit Hanzo’s blocks and dodges. He is obviously outnumbered, at least by the river, but he still fights back. 

This won’t stop. This won’t end until there is blood spilt. The monsters bare their weapons and teeth, ready to tear each other apart, because of her. A human that shouldn’t be.

So much senseless violence. So much needless death.

Silent tears break free from her eyes as she watches through the fog. Her free hand moves to take the wet wood of her staff, and leans against it until she stands on her feet with soft gasps of pain.

“Hey…” her voice trembles, but she takes another painful breath. “Hey!”

Hanzo’s head whips across the fog, finding her with dark irises. Genji and Sombra move their claws and weapon, but it’s too late.

All he wants is her dead. If she leads him away, there won’t be any creatures’ death on the mountain today.

She calls out again as Genji shouts, saying her name in conflict. His eyes flash once before Hanzo cuts his fangs through the air at his throat.

How can she let him kill his own brother?

How can she standby as cruelty and blood flies because of her very breath?

She will not be a conductor for such things.

A breath hurts her lungs, but she breathes it slowly, remembering his promises to her.

She will watch over him.

Angela calls out again, grabbing the blue serpentine’s attention. The fog takes her as she runs along the bank of the river. A hiss echoes as other voices call her name, but danger begins to pursue the prey.

She clutches her staff tightly as blood drips in her wake. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


	20. Faith of Gold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She cannot part from Genji, and neither him from her.

 

The fog surrounds her. The river is the only landmark she can find in the dead grass, and the perimeter of visible sight is weak. Her sides ache, and every jolt or bump of movement from her running are creating black dots that dance across her vision. She can hardly breathe, and her staff is a crutch now as she leaves a trail of red to follow.

She can’t hear much through her own labored panting and struggled movement, but there’s an occasional hiss or a clash of strength and bodies as Angela pushes herself along. If Genji is trying to stop Hanzo, she can’t identify his movements from Hanzo’s. The blue serpentine must be following closely beside the river if he wants to exterminate the human from the mountain. The fog must be slowing him down, or he’s cautious of something else.

If she doesn’t stop the bleeding, she’ll faint. The broken rib keeps making her struggle to breathe, but that is not something that can be set or braced. Simply resting and being careful of one’s activity allows the bone to heal, but that is not an option here.

She continues on. Genji can’t witness this, he can’t get hurt.

A branch of a dark tree materializes out of the fog, nearly hitting Angela in the chest, but she stops in time to lean on her staff. Her pause is only for a moment, for fear tells her if she stops to rest or sit upon the ground, she’ll never get back up.

Slipping around the truck, it takes her from the river’s edge, but the worry of drawing the situation worst is pushed aside. Familiar trees bare nearly dead leaves in the coolness of the fog as she slides around bark.

This is the forest that hides the temple from plain view.

Energy moves upon her skin as she stumbles forward. Hair falls into her eyes but she can’t spare the motion or time to brush it out of her face. The dark forest is fading to yellows and reds. Leaves are barely clinging on as winter threatens it with a long sleep. Through the dark canopy, and winding tree trunks, she gets through on weak legs and trembling fingers.

A hiss echoes close behind her, pushing her farther through the senseless maze of white haze and sudden branches and tree trunks. Hanzo is close behind, and maybe Genji as well.

She moves with direction other than simply away. A sudden chill slips through her still wet cloak as her feet carry her to the heart of the forest. The trees become compact but still give her space to maneuver; a creature would struggle getting through the tight spaces. Genji had troubles with it last time.

His face comes into her mind for a moment, baring a smirk that she holds onto before stumbling forward. As much agony and fear rakes through her chest, a glimmer of faith blooms in the broken pieces of her bones.

The temple is her last hope.

No creature can go upon its ground.

The stone archway comes into view, burning strength into her chest as the rest of the forgotten building follows. Leaping onto the cracked floor and barely holding threshold, a hiss echoes as another joins it.  

She looks back to find Hanzo slithering into the small open area before the temple, fangs bared before turning to face Genji’s sword. Her heart stills at his emeralds through the fog. Large tails begin cutting through the grass as the brother’s circle each other, and Genji spares a glance into the temple to meet her eyes, sword raised carefully in his steady grip.

His eyes are wide, and his muscles tremble with a great power driven with desperation.

She couldn’t lead Hanzo away from. Her small breath of despair pulls at her ribcage.

“Angela,” he says, attempting to hold her gaze but dodging away on his serpentine body to avoid a blow from Hanzo’s bow. “Go inside.”

He knows what she does, but she leans heavily on her staff, watching the two monsters fight.

“Genji, no,” she murmurs, but there is nothing left she can do as he continues to fight for her.

Tearing her gaze away, a heavy heart moves with her further into the temple. Her lungs work through heavy gasps as she crosses the barely steady wooden bridge. The once glorious space comes under her feet as she enters the center floor of the temple. Oddly, no fog touches within the crumbling walls of the decrypted building. Their fighting echoes as a blade hits against a bow. The noise rattles her soul, casting only images of Hanzo’s fangs grabbing onto Genji.

Faltering to the painting, it still hangs even though a year has passed since her last visit. Two dragons fight, one of green scales and the other of blue.

Like her love, and Hanzo.

Angela falls to her knees, letting her staff roll in front of her, fearing for him, for herself. Exhaustion streaks through her limbs, almost painfully letting relief hit her muscles. Blood shines on one entire side of her torso, dripping down her thigh. She convinces herself to slowly tear a strip of fabric from her cloak, and wraps it slowly around her blood stained skin as gently as possible.

The blood lost might be too great.

Her side bleeds, her bones hold inside of her fractured, and Genji fights alone, even through the fog and exhaustion. He would lay his life down before someone stopped her heart.

It’s too much, and she’s not what the mountain is.

A breathy sob scraps her throat as emotion tugs at her eyes. Her heart overflows with the want of being with him for as long as the warm sun will shine upon them, clashing against the want to keep him safe by leaving entirely. Her hand presses into her side, grunting in pain as her fading adrenaline lets it blossom.

If Genji doesn’t kill Hanzo, he’ll return again. If Genji crumbles to his arrogance like he did with Amélie, Hanzo won’t hesitate to strike.

She doesn’t want to die, but there are no more options left.

The first tears roll down her face as she closes her eyes, wanting him, wanting to keep healing even with everything against them.

“Don’t grieve.”

Her eyes startle open to the voice, and she finds herself leaning back on one hand as the other clutches her wound. The movement makes her flinch at her broken rib, but she holds still.  A man stands in front of her, the painting shadowing his back. Ancient cloths mark his body, and a trimmed beard shows dark with gray as his hair is pulled back tightly. Silently, he looks over her with sepia color irises, but the energy of this strange temple flows through him.

He has Genji’s eyes.

He appears true, but she doesn’t believe a human to be here after all the years of decay that has occurred here.

“Who are you?” she whispers, daring to disturb the mystic force by speaking out loud.

“My name is Sojiro.” He gives a soft bow, before slowly kneeling in front of her. Her staff is inches from her touch, but she can take it in her hands in a second if needed. A soft comfort moves through her veins as she feels no threat from the man.

“I guard this ground, but there is no need to fear.” He speaks calmly, a deep sound that only offers reassurance. “I only wish to understand why you weep.”

Angela slowly straightens, trying to fathom why this man has Genji’s eyes, and Hanzo’s sharp features, but she can only brush the back of her hand against her face to see without blonde hair in her vision.

“I want to stay with my love, but we are in constant danger because I am human, and he is a creature of the mountain.” She confesses like a small, trickling stream, slow but eventually letting go. “I want to heal, and protect him as he does me, but I can’t.”

His gaze moves over her wound, eyes softening at the blood filling the cloth on her torso before returning to her.

“You must make a choice.” He speaks, only gently, calmly.

Her shoulders loosen at that, at the memory of Sombra once again telling her to leave, or enjoy the little time she has left with Genji. It tears through her chest, but still more sadness falls from her eyes.

“I can’t.” She trembles, feeling warm red against her hand. “Healing is my blood and veins but Genji… he is my heart”

Her voice falters, but doesn’t break.

“I cannot part with either piece of me.”

The man does not move at her words, but only holds her in a faint light coming from the pupils of his eyes. Whatever the man is, he is connected to what this temple once was, and who was here.

“The spirits are not always kind, but they will help if a soul’s heart is genuine.” He speaks slowly, even as her brow narrows in confusion and with a small, building hope. “They once worked through two princes that lived in this same temple.”

The painting tugs at her vision as he speaks, telling a story that this powerful land forgot.

“It was a blessing, and a curse of life, to the brothers who let anger and pride pull them apart until they could no longer see the blood on their swords.” He holds her gaze as she returns it to him, and the light in his eyes almost seems to grieve at his own words.

“In their punishment, they forgot where they came from, and their strong clan was destroyed. This temple is to never be tainted by the creatures holding this mountain as theirs.”

This strange, holy ground may be what her faith has led her to for a reason she is only beginning to grasp. Still, she is afraid.

“Will they help me?” She asks tentatively, not wanting to give in just yet to the powerful essence of what lies in the cracks and holes of the temple walls. “Will they let me heal and… keep my love?”

The man offers a soft light from his eyes, letting faith bloom in her chest.

“They will, but you must chose to sacrifice another part of yourself if they give it.”

Blood slips between the space of her fingers, and her breaths are slow and heavy with a deep ache. Genji still duels outside, defending her as she bleeds. His swore oath comes alive again and again, even when it was made on a quiet night within the den.

The tender touch of his hand that will also take swords that cut through powerful creatures still holds against her skin. Their love, warming her body as she kissed his jaw. The embraces among the flowers and sketches and the rain. The fear that overwhelms her soul until his comfort chases it away. She still feels his care.

She cannot part from Genji, and neither him from her.

“I will give it.” She answers, steady as her skin chills in the forsaken temple.

“Take my hand, my daughter.” The man offers his palm, and she breathes for one moment. Accepting whatever will come, she places her hand against his.

Her vision folds away into starlight, viewing the heavens that shouldn’t exist at this time. Thousands of twinkling stars glimmer as life, all breathing and reaching and hoping. Spirits, watching over her.

Two dragons twirl before her, scales like the brothers who now fight. Their beings are large and whole, constantly moving against the other in a living twine of ribbon like bodies. They both fly through the light space to breathes against her hair, and listen to the pleads of her heart.

Their judgement falls upon her swiftly, finding her worthy of their gifts.

There is no fear, only faith in her spirit.

The blue dragon reaches out first, and touches its great maw to her forehead. Light pours over her, burning in a powerful shower of strength. Bowing, the spirit twists away, back into the starlight as it leaves her to face the green dragon.

Its chest rumbles with comforts of love and protection. She feels it strength and scales along her own skin as the dragon accepts her as its own soul.

With one great claw it touches her chest, the center of her soul, igniting her heart before bowing to her. More energy burns into her body before she is but a mass of a soul.

The space of spirits and heaven let her sleep before the light takes her away. 

 

*

 

A cool floor touches her skin as she wakes. Lifting her eyes and head from the temple ground, the old painting still hangs over her. It watches as she pushes up onto her arms slowly. She moves with the fear of pain blossoming in her torso, but nothing stabs within her. New sensations adore her body, and her soul radiates at this.

She was one with the great spirits, and in their time, they blessed her. The man who guided her to them is gone, but she doesn’t mourn.

Angela starts slowly, moving no longer upon legs and feet. As she sits up, her gaze beholds the new form the dragons gifted her. Slowly, she twists to trail her eyes down her torso where blood no longer stains her pale skin, and finds her lower half.  

A serpentine body grows from her human hipline, lacing into a slender shimmer of powerful muscle and deep yellow scales. Three times as long as her human form, it twines behind her, moving slowly at her new adjustments. Her clothes are gone, save only a strip of fabric taken from her cloak that wraps around her chest. Sensitive senses touch the air, she tastes it with new alertness as her mouth moves easily. Along her jaw, her tongue explores to find hidden fangs, but they stay away as she wants them to.

The sight takes her breath, but her soul lightens upon the golden scales as easily as if she’s always known this.

She is a monster in the land of monsters.

She belongs here.

Her white wood staff still lies undisturbed on the floor. Taking it in her hand, she is unsure of her new senses and movement, and grabs the staff to pull herself up to full height. It’s a crutch that is not needed as her body moves on command. Balance is already set inside of her as her serpentine body doesn’t waver, and she lets a soft breath of disbelief leave her mouth.

At where she once stood upon feet and toes, she now looks at the painting where a tear cuts into the canvas. The edges are stained with a dark substance, as if slashed into with a bloody sword.

There is a story that echoes in her mind but it is not hers to keep, nor to tell. Whatever tale was in her memories is gone, and she is content to let it be so.

Her tail pushes against the old floor, coiling underneath her before the scales push her forward. There is no blood on her side or hands, and a faint scar only touches her skin. Her lungs move without agony in an inhale or exhale, and her exposed ribcage holds no bruises. She slithers a few feet across the floor, stopping only once to watch the elegant, wind like motion of the golden serpentine body she possesses.

It is a dream, but one she lives.

Her new senses picks up the harsh sound of ringing metal and hissing. Genji and Hanzo still battle, both believing they still fight over a human. 

Standing independently from her staff, she holds it as she gathers herself up once again. Tall and balanced, she turns her body to the entrance of the temple, and glides over the wooden floor as if a breeze flowing through leaves. Before her gold scales touch the bridge, Angela stops to look back through the empty space.

“Thank you,” she speaks softly. Gratitude flows on her tongue for the spirits, and a ghostly face she doesn’t remember. She takes in the abandon temple one moment longer, knowing she can never return here again.

The painting of the dragons watch over her as she departs.

Her flesh and scales move with supernatural grace, there is no fear of stumbling or testing new muscles. The motion is not of stepping and walking, but of one solid movement in waves. There is strength in her new tail and power in her jaw. The spirits have not abandon her.

She comes to the threshold, finding Genji and Hanzo locked in even standings as both still tautly hold their weapons. They are equals in nearly every move and strike through the fog. Though heavy breaths and small wounds paint them, they still hold relentless.

As the blue serpentine bares his fangs at Genji, fear and wraith strikes through her, and a strange noise arises in the back of her throat. A menacing hiss of warning leaps from her own tongue, cutting through the air like a steel screech.

The brothers strike at each other as Angela darts with inhuman speed through the stone archway in her new mass, leaving the temple behind forever.

“Stop!” she cries out.

Genji turns in wild desperation. His fangs retract as to tell her to go back to the security of the temple, but his rigid body loosens at the sight of her.

It’s the same expression after she first kissed his jaw so many seasons ago. Stunned, with only eyes upon her and the sudden gleam of golden scales against the fog and fading trees.

Hanzo slithers back, confused and suspicious as he lowers his weapon upon the new creature in his midst. In the small clearing upon the temple threshold, he retreats to the foggy tree line as she goes to Genji.

Her tail moves upon the dying grass like a wave, slow and elegant as she reaches him. There is so much more touch and textures with her scales against grass and ground. Genji’s eyes travel along the new length of her, lips parted as his eyes twinkle with awe. When she reaches his side, he shifts his sword to one hand and reaches out with the other to take her fingers. Drawing her hand into his chest, she moves against him with fear and faith mingling in her new skin. He does not seem to trust his eyes as they flicker to her own, down her body and all the way to the end of her tail. With her staff in hand, she curves a part of her serpentine body until it touches against his scales, electrifying them both. He whispers her name in quiet breathlessness.

She feels real.

“There is no human anymore,” she declares to the sharp, untrusting features of Hanzo. Turning her head to face him, she is unafraid and more than human. “Stop this senseless violence.”

Hanzo’s bow is already lowered, but he throws a sharp glare to the temple. The energy is strange and off putting. She knows to not tread upon its ground anymore, unlike before when her feet willingly entered its space. Securing his bow string across his chest, Hanzo twitches his blue tail once.

“That witch is your burden, Genji. I do not want to see her again.” He declares, orderly and firm, but the threat of when she was human is gone.

There is no need for bloodshed, or death. She herself has stopped the destruction that could have torn into many creatures on this day. Here she will stay, with Genji, and all the healing agents upon the mountainside.

Her new body feels like light, whole and attached firmly to the strength of her own spirit. There is no fear as Genji holds her hand to his beating heart.

“Leave, Hanzo,” He hisses, baring his fangs for a moment. “Do not come to my lands.”

The elder brother looks harshly over her winding tail in the dead grass, before casting one last heavy look to the temple. He turns his back on them. Cobalt scales pull him between the fog and trees, letting him disappear from their view.

She lets her chin drop in relief before immediately turning to Genji. Pulling away only to search for wounds or bruises on his person, he stares back at her worrisome gaze. Her serpentine body coils underneath her and for one sharp moment wonders if he finds her as beautiful as the day in the blossom tree.

Sheathing his sword, his impossibly open eyes don’t blink as he takes her hand back to him. The fog in the small clearing begins to lighten as sunshine heats the mountainside.

“Angela,” he murmurs slowly, “am I dreaming?”

His astonished words loosens what little worry she had let gather. The familiar touch of his fingers lights up her skin, and only soft disbelief colors his eyes. She smiles, flashing her fangs.

“No, Genji,” she whispers, reaching up to brush a drop of sweat from his hairline.

He still moves as if just waking, and wraps his arm around the bare skin of her waist. Gently he edges them together, holding her as if they are about to dance on their scales. Their skin and scales shudder at the warm contact together, but she only wants more of his warmth. The cold air doesn’t make her shiver, and his sensations overwhelm her tongue. A smell that only belongs to him, and faintly touches upon her own body. When she takes a moment to breathe in softly, she smells her own scent across his skin.

Hers, and as she is his.

“How,” he asks, astonished and holding her gaze in a soft light. His hand moves slowly, touching where she was once wounded. Scar tissue only reminisces of Hanzo’s arrow finding the edge of her torso now. Trailing down to her hip line, her flesh rises with goosebumps before he traces her scales. He gasps at the gold underneath his fingertips, holding her like treasure.

“The spirits blessed me,” she says, remembering a blurry face, and wondering about a forgotten name. She looks back to the temple, confusion touching her brow as she feels the essence of a memory locked out of her reach.

There were spirits, she explains to him slowly. Beings of energy as mystical as the mountain itself who heard her plead, and when she woke, she was gifted with fangs and scales.

She does not remember anything else, but someone helped her reach her decision. A man, whose name she does not recall. The temple is a warning, but one she cannot repeat.

“Angela,” Genji takes her back as his tail presses against the length of her. All of his being touches all of her in a soft glimmer of scales. “Is this truly what you want?”

There is still the hesitation, the worry of her happiness in his irises. She pushes upon her new muscles to reach his lips, and take away any doubts. His embrace holds her steady as they share a short, but deep kiss. Parting makes her breathless, but no more fear stains his features.

“I’ve already made my choice, and it’s always been you.” She feels a soft rumbling in her chest, a content noise that hums in her throat but echoes in a soft hiss.

He is only happy. Genji’s own light pulls her in once again to taste her new teeth, and feel the bodies that now exist as the same on the mountain. He pulls back as she still holds to her staff and cautions her body with slow movements.

“You are golden beauty,” he whispers as she touches his skin, meaning his words with the pulse of his heart.

“I feel new,” she confesses, still understanding how she can move her great mass of a tail with such ease, “but I am with you.”

His hand brushes her hair out of her eyes, “There is nothing to fear now.”

“We’ll watch over each other,” she declares to the small clearing and their blood and veins. A content wave of safety and finding home washes over her, and she presses her body to his. Wrapping close, she kisses him, her mate, and tastes him as she was never able to before.

“Let’s go home,” she says.

The shining emeralds of his tail, and her own shimmering gold scales slip through the trees as he holds her hand. He is support she doesn’t need but wants as she works through the movement of her tail. The fog is only wisps of fading clouds as they break into the open field, long out of view of the forsaken temple. There is only gratitude to whatever lies in those decaying walls, but it is time to go forward with him at her side.

He cautions her, watching with a mesmerized gaze as she extends in front of him. Twisting on her long body in the dying grass, freedom touches every inch of what is new and what was always hers. Senses open her to stronger experiences and the presence of him, and the smallest sounds of his scales moving. Genji come to her side, unable to look away as she breathes happily in the mountain air.

They reach their meadow, and the scents of their existence here strikes through her. A distinct smell carries human blood and her own scent twined in it, but that will fade with time. She circles around Genji slowly, surrounding his smirking being as she comes closer. Energy touches through her scales at his own contact and she wants to hold him with every part of her. He twines his tail with hers before she can take his cheeks in her palms. Slowly, she teases his lips with her love, before pressing softly against his mouth. His hands still explore her bare skin and new scales, unable to stop praising her gold color and long, slender tail.

The sun begins to set on their content paradise, but they both still have needs. It was only hours ago she was terrified and breathless as Genji battled against his brother. With her arm in Genji’s, and the occasional bump of their tails as they slither through the grass down to the river, she braces for the river creature’s reaction.

They barely reach the bank when Sombra breaks through the surface, moving her tentacles to come closer to land. Her lips already snarl with needle fangs, and her tongue holds sharp insults for her running off, but it all stops dead. Slowly, her eyes follow the long length of her serpentine body before ripping her gaze back to her face. Now, her features twist in confusion and uncertainty.

“Hey,” she smiles, letting her fangs show while still holding onto Genji’s hand. She stands tall in front of her, loping her tail around to be in full view as Genji squeezes her palm for a moment.

“Is she a creature like you, Genji?” she turns on him, demanding in disbelief for someone to confirm what she sees. Still, her eyes are unable to completely look away from Angela’s tail.

“Yes,” he answers, grinning at her shocked state, “but I, too, thought I was having a vision when I saw her.”

That doesn’t do anything to soften the intense gaze from her purple-blue eyes as Sombra turns on her. A few dark tentacles writhe above the waterline, close to the bank as if she’s going to leave its waters to inspect her thoroughly.

“Angela?” She asks, as if it couldn’t be her.

“Yes, Sombra?” She speaks lightly, letting the last few rays of sun reflect off her scales.

She blinks, before leaning forward and reaching her hand across the bank of the river.

“What did you do?” She demands, and when Angela takes her hand she nearly chokes. Now physically real, Sombra sits back in the water as Angela begins her story.

It feels strange but real and familiar. Everything does. Sombra still doesn’t dare blink as she and Genji drink from the river, and she reaches out to touch her tail once before blinking at the explanation of spirits blessing her.

“I don’t think you can surprise me ever again.” She muses, still letting her brow narrow in disbelief. “This is unheard of.”

“This is my choice,” Angela speaks firmly, feeling his soft energy in the dying light beside her.

“Hmph,” she looks over her tail for the innumerable time. “You and Genji are a matching set, now and forever.”

“Now and forever,” Genji repeats softly, touching her cheek for a moment.

Sombra makes a disgusting noise, before slipping back into her river.

“Angela, come back to talk to me in the morning,” she spares another glance at her gold scales, pursing her lips in deep thought. “I’ll… give you some fish.”

“Of course.” Angela obliges, but they both know she wants to confirm that she is still a creature just like them.

Without another word, she fades into the background of the water, disappearing underneath its surface.

“She took that better than I thought,” Angela murmurs as they turn, readjusting their held hands as they climb the slope.

“It’s a little hard to believe,” Genji confesses, touching his lips to her knuckles for one moment. “I’m still not sure if this is a good dream.”

They come to the entrance of the den, the place of their resting bodies and secret love. Angela takes his hand, kissing the back of it slowly. His free fingers touch her hair, brushing it back from her face as the dark shadows from the setting sun touch their serpentine bodies. Gently, she curls the end of her tail over his, twining together like a shimmering braid as the warmth touches through her lower half.

She guides his hand slowly down her bare skin, letting him touch her hips before pressing his fingers to her scales. Real, just as they both breathe. He holds on, leaning his forehead against her as she feels his own scales against her.

“I’m right here,” she murmurs, touching her lips to the tip of his nose.

He breathes out slowly as he closes the distance between them. Lips dance together in the fading light, tender and hungry and faithful. The sun leaves them to begin their first night as one, and twine their bodies together in complete contact. His sweet nothings praise her, from her hair to the shimmer of her scales. Amazement doesn’t leave his eyes, even when they wake in a mass of limbs and warm bodies.

Autumn still sings its warning of winter, and Angela adjusts to the fangs hidden in her jaw and scales that love the warmth of the sun but only needs food once a week.

Genji doesn’t leave her side, and his lingering gaze only makes her twist her serpentine body in joy. The dying meadow is different, but she can still dig for roots and sketch their designs into her book. The sun touches her skin in such a pleasant light that she understands how Genji always wants to sleep on the rocky hillside. Afternoons pass by with their human torso lying against each other and stretching out their serpentine bodies.

Angela retrieves the fish Sombra provides, knowing that she sacrificed that part of her. Now, she is able to eat meat raw in large quantities. Hunger strikes at her in a strong wave, and Sombra’s gift is all they can get at the immediate moment.

The fish is alive and still struggling when she uses her fangs and unhooks her jaw (the first time she does this, it startles her before curiosity chases the disturbance of it away, but Genji only stares and confesses how beautiful she looks) Using her venom is natural. It flows through her fangs with ease but it seems she can’t still the fish as best as she thought she can. In fact, Genji uses his own venom to kill the first fish.

His reassurance tells her that she will get use to her venom easily, now that she doesn’t have tiny, useless, nonvenomous fangs, that is.

This earns a sharp glare from Angela and a flash of her large, deadly, venomous fangs. Genji laughs before he apologizes.  

Attempting to once again to dig her teeth into the thin covering of the second fish, she pumps her venom, but still feels the fish limply moving. Unlocking her jaw, her hiss of frustration dusts the fish. He takes it from her with gentle ease and a soft reassure that she’ll get it soon. Her scales twitch in annoyance, but a brush of his settles her.

When his parts his jaw to ready his own fangs, he stops suddenly.

“Did you bite into it?” He asks, looking to her.

“Yes,” she answers stiffly, still irritated that she can’t kill a simple fish with her strong teeth.

“There aren’t any marks in it.” He displays the side of the fish she dug her fangs into, but only a solid surface comes from the still wiggling fish.

“I know I puncture it, Genji,” she frowns, taking it back from him in stark confusion. The slick body of the fish is difficult to hold, but her hands are careful. Unhinging her jaw, she once again sinks her fangs into the fish’s body, and feels the flow of her venom.

Letting go, the fish still squirms in her palms as Genji now peers over her shoulder to view the two deep puncture marks. A small trickle of blood leaks from both, but the fish still moves.

Angela settles her fangs, scowling at the fish. It troubles her that she has to prolong this already, but she doesn’t understand why her venom isn’t working.

“What am I doing wrong—” she stops herself as the two puncture holes in the fish slowly fill, healing. Blood stops bleeding as it grows back its silver scales as if she never bit into it in the first place. In mere seconds, the fish is whole again, and trying to wiggle free from her hands

Genji is still, brows narrowed at the fish in confusison before he reaches out, and presses his fingers where her fangs had puncture the fish just moments ago.

Stilling upon the sight of the healed fish, Angela inhales quietly. The spirits promise of allowing her to keep healing tugs at the back of her mind, and a gasp pulls through her lips. Turning to Genji, she holds his gaze for one trembling moment.

“I don’t think my venom is meant to kill.” She whispers as Genji’s expression morphs into dawning realization as well.

“I think my venom heals, Genji,” she breathes slowly, feeling her heart lighten. Her healing hands may be changed but she will be able to help those who need it.

“Angela,” he breathes out, shocked just as she.

There is a lot of work to be done before winter.

As she learns to move quietly through the grass, and keep up with Genji’s movement, it seems as if her fate was always leading her to this. Genji eyes gleam with excitement every time he brushes against her scales, or leads her through the fruit trees in a test of speed. His swiftness is unmatched, and though he tells her that it can’t be helped that he is simply that good, she finds she can lunge farther than him. It’s a burst of strength and exhilarating to move off the coil of her tail through the air several feet. A prideful victory that makes him pout until she kisses it off his lips.

Once, she sneaks up on him, and startles him with her pounce. Pinning him to the ground, her own smirk touched her lips at his awe and fright. She turns her tail and darts away before he could latch onto her, but their chase didn’t last long after she is captured in his soft grasp. They roll in the grass like children, scales and limbs through the dying grass. He retaliates with his lips against her still sensitive neck, torturing her with soft kisses.

She can’t hunt for herself, but she goes with Genji as they travel to a lower elevation to find sheep in herds. Staying behind to watch in curiosity, she notes how Genji moves carefully through the yellow grass contrasting negatively against his scales. His silent, quick moments always gets his prey to where they are ignorant of the threat. There is only quick, blinding motion when he pounces and delivers his venom before a second passes. It’s only moments before the sheep lies still, and he takes the food back to his mate.

They eat once a week, something that still puzzles Angela about their hunger. It is slow and growing, but once full it keeps her sated until days pass. It is unpleasant, killing and eating prey, but she made her choice to be this. She will not falter, and even now she is getting use to their strange meals.

To help test how her venom can affect sick and wounded creatures, Genji captures a sheep that is acting slow and odd. The animal is frighten in their presences, but an illness stops the sheep from bleating too loudly. Gently, Angela takes a glass vial that she pumped full of her clear venom, and eases it down the animal’s throat. Venom is usually only effective if injected directly into the bloodstream, but she has faith it will still work as intended, if only a bit slower.

After hours of Genji holding the sheep still, it gets the strength to panic and buck in his arms before escaping back down the slope back to its heard. It runs without hindrance or any signs of discomfort. Genji swears at the animal and the hoofmarks on his body as Angela is unable to contain her joy. Her venom will change so many lives.

After weeks of confirming her venom as a healing agent rather than a poison, she places glass vials over her fangs to pump clear liquid. Bottles fill her bag along with the last of the roots and petals by the time Lúcio’s and Hana’s last visit nears. She and Genji still aren’t sure how to approach it. Jesse may also be with them, presenting more dilemmas.

When the day comes, Genji and Angela go further down the mountain path then where they usually meet. There, they find large enough boulders that Angela drapes her serpentine body behind. Genji is at her side, making sure her gold scales are out of view but his own tail out in the open.

They arrival in the late morning sun when Hana’s white horse and Jesse’s chestnut horse senses the creatures, and threatens to abandon its riders before they dismount. Hana is forced to tether their horses to a tree down the path from Genji and Angela as they only seem to frighten the animals.

“Angela?” He drawls, already narrowing a glare at Genji. At least his hand isn’t on his gun. Genji goes to parts his lips and bare his fangs, but Angela’s soft warning stops him. Hana and Lúcio stare in awe at him, nervous but less so by the way she holds the monster’s hand.

“Is this your Genji?” Hana asks, eyes bright in curiosity and foolish bravery at the emeralds of his tail and the leather sheaths holding swords to his back. Genji’s irises soften at the way she addresses him.

“Yes,” she answers carefully, but Jesse’s brow is suspicious upon the way she hides herself halfway behind rocks.

“Is everything alright?” Lúcio’s gaze moves between his mentor and the monster, sensing something different as well. Fabric don’t cover her shoulders as it once did in the crisp mountain air, creating more evidence to that.

“Yes, but there is something I must tell you.”

She inhales deeply, knowing there is no easy way to speak of what has happened over the last few days. Leaving the cover of the rocks, she braces herself with faith and Genji’s confidence at her side.

Jesse steps back, eyes wide but his fingers leave his gun holster alone. Grabbing Hana’s hand, Lúcio stares upon Angela’s gold scales as his wife stares with parted lips. For a few delicate seconds, one could hear the mountain’s whisper as the humans stare at the new creature upon its slopes.

“Angela,” Hana gasps.

A breathy swear slips from Jesse’s lips when he takes his place back one step forward. He can hardly tear his gaze away from her yellow serpentine body.

“What happened to you?” He asks, letting an accusing stare land upon her mate, but she slips forward a little more. They don’t step away, or make noises of fright, allowing her to cool her own worries as she speaks again. Genji stays behind, but a part of his tail touches her in comfort.

It takes time to explain her story, but they listen. As she makes herself as non-threatening as possible, Jesse slowly becomes dazed as Hana glows with excitement. Lúcio is wide eyed and silent, but after several tense moments, he reaches out to her. Angela takes her apprentice’s hand in reassurance, fainting smiling at the way he follows her tail back to her face, as if making sure she is alright.

“Are you happy? With your Genji?” Lúcio asks softly, finding his other hand intertwined with his wife’s as she joins him at his side.

Her smile is sure and bright.

“I am.” Her honest answer.

Their questions comes stumbling one after another. After every answer, they don’t only see her serpentine body, but the woman who first ventured to the mountain to find new methods of healing.

Her venom is precious, and as she explains this, they take the glass vials with delicacy. A miraculous thing, but only to be used in severe cases. This winter, she will sleep, and hope that they can handle whatever comes their way, and be ready to help.

Hana and Lúcio part to load the precious supplies on their horse’s back. When they venture away, Genji comes back to her side, and she shifts to face Jesse’s still form. The end of her tail twists as she finds her voice.

“I may seem… frightening, Jesse, but you are still my family.” She pauses to keep the emotion out of her voice. “I understand if you don’t wish to return to see me again.”

Genji’s flickers the end of his tail against hers soothingly, but Jesse slowly raises the brim of his hat. Rubbing his beard for one heavy moment, he loosens his stance.

“Shoot, Angela.” He breathes, “Yer still a mother hen worryin’ about everyone, especially me.”

He finally comes to her, and she takes his hand in hers. His gloves are dirty and familiar, and she breathes out with a shaky breath of joy as he tilts his hat back to look up at her.

“Yer just a little… scalier, is all.”

Laughter bubbles from her chest as she lowers herself on her serpentine body for a precious moment. He enters her embrace, and the childhood of lonely days where they dreamed of making their own families comes back to her. The end of her tail curls around his boots for a moment, before letting him go with a few happy tears in the corner of her eyes.

“Ya take care of her now, ya hear?” He turns on Genji with a righteous, quiet warning as her mate responses with a quiet hiss.

“Jesse,” Angela chastises, but he flickers a faint grin in her direction. Of course he would want to provoke her mate before taking his leave.

“As if I would do anything less,” Genji bares his fangs for a moment, and the two stare down at each other before Jesse offers his hand. For a moment, Genji stills at the gesture before accepting it. They shake hands, regarding each other with less lethal stares before Jesse steps away.

Her heart lightens, feeling akin to the wind as Genji straightens back at her side with a less, venom filled gaze upon Jesse.

“Please, take care, and return next spring so I can give you more roots and venom.”

Angela hopes upon them as they share their last goodbyes for the next cold months. They’ll return in spring, and Jesse wants some time in their meadow, and maybe a visit with Sombra if she’s there. Angela reassures him she will be, and he fixes his hat out of her knowing sights.

With still strange stares and disbelief in their eyes, they leave her to the cool mountain wind. Lúcio is cautious of the precious medicine he carries as Hana turns her white horse back down the slopes. With one last wave, Jesse trots after the young couple. Angela watches them disappear down the mountain, letting her faith carry with them as they have all they need.

They will do good things.

Coming back to their meadow is coming back home. She learns, and Genji adjusts to his mate not having legs anymore. Sometimes when they wake early in a chilly morning, he asks if she’s happy, and sure. Her answer is always the same. They roam together, unafraid as there is no human to threaten their land.

After much convincing and arguing, Genji leads her to Satya’s lands where the white plated creature tenses at their sights but loosens upon the human who now bares gold scales. Her questions never slow as her hands flutter over the silver metal circling her finger. After she insures that it is indeed Angela, and her stinger doesn’t curve threateningly, Satya takes her hands for a moment to hope the couple both happiness and long lives.

Before they part, Satya tells Angela to come visit her in spring. She accepts at the grumbling hisses of Genji before calming him down with her touch. Ever protective, even when she is nearly as fast and strong as he.

Dreams and nightmares still come to them. Genji is paralyzed or drowning in blood as she is only human and unable to stop the arrow or fangs. She’ll wake to his tail twisting against hers before he comes away from the images of her human heart being stopped with claws. Her serpentine body is a comfort now, reminding them both that those days are over. Using her tail, she holds him in loose reassurance until there is no more fear in his eyes.

He still murmurs about her, about his mate being perfect and a dream. Her teases will follow that he likes her better as a monster, but he insists he’d love her in any form she came in.

There is no regret, or missing blades of grass against her toes. She is free and strong, and now able to protect Genji with venom that is not venom at all. Sketches still fill the pages of her book, and Genji still smirks at the charcoal stains on her fingers tips. His fainting drawings are the ones where both their tails twine in a shimmer of jewels. Roots and petals fill their den, and she is with him, healing.  

The last few days before storms threaten snow are spent in the sun, or holding Genji against her serpentine scales. His touch against her tail is melting, and his kisses never slow. The dead grass and bare trees remind them of blizzards but they will only sleep.

Spring will come soon enough, and they will have all the time to twist around each other and dance.

 

**_Winter_ **

 

Nestling in the den as snow begins dropping temperatures, their bodies’ internal design slow to a crawl, and dreams don’t touch their heavy sleep. Against each other, winter takes their wakeful days and turns it to blinding white rest.

Rumors begin echoing in the town far below the mountain as snow falls. The doctor before Lúcio is gone, and some whisper that she did go to the mountain after all, but paid an awful price for the healing roots and herbs.

Gossip echoes that she was sick and died, or that a terrible curse fell upon her, making her disappear from this world.

The most favorite talk is that she fell in love with a monster, and they both fled to a paradise far from either planes of life. Alone, together, they move through tall grass and never worry about storms or food.

A tale of caudal emeralds and becoming venom.

A love story that shouldn’t have been.

 

**_Spring_ **

 

When the last of the melted snow drips from their den entrance, and grass begins to grow green, Angela wakes against Genji. He already smirks against her hair, albeit still loosening the sleep from his eyes. Hunger growls deep within them both as spring air fills the den.

“Good morning, my flower,” he murmurs into her ear.

“Genji,” she whispers back, pressing her lips to his jawline in the way she first kissed him. "My love."

They both rise, and greet the warm sun. Hand in hand, they look over the mountainside that is their home. The two creatures set their serpentine bodies in the sun, letting emeralds and gold glitter. Together, without fear, they move to the meadow of budding flowers, watching over the other.

 

_fin_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this little story that grew way beyond my imagination and for adding such sweet and loving comments. You mean the world to me ♥

**Author's Note:**

> Please R&R, it helps me out a lot! ♥


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